Amity Legacy
by Deus Rex Machina
Summary: A bridging story that explores the friendships and experiences of the Amity Park/New York residents. Chapters are chronological and for the most part connect to form one solid overreaching timeline for the American Dragon and Danny Phantom post-show universes.
1. The Road Trip

Tucker and Danny had a longstanding tradition of blowing off everything in favor of impromptu road-trips when they were stressed out, and the first week of December after they turned twenty-one was no exception.

"Danny," Tuck said, breathing heavily on the phone as he paced around his room, "I need a road-trip, like…_now._"

"Tuck? It's like five in the morning, is everything okay?"

"Yes…no…maybe…rahh, just be ready when I come over in ten minutes."

Hanging up, Tucker packed his bags and threw them in the trunk of his car, the technology he'd been working on for the past few months rattling around in the back as he took off for Fenton Works. "C'mon, Fenton," he muttered as he pulled up to the familiar multi-story building for the millionth time, "get your ghostly butt in gear."

"I heard that, Foley," a voice beside him said as a weight settled in the back of his car, "and you better have a darn good reason for pulling me out of the bed before the sun." Sliding into the passenger seat, Danny Fenton ruffled his hair and yawned as the two of them pulled off into the early morning.

Now, as he leaned back beside his oldest friend going sixty down a dirt road, Tucker finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking back on the few years, he found himself smiling at the ways they'd grown. They weren't just the geeky guys from Capser High anymore; they were the young men of Amity Park, old enough to vote but young enough not to care.

Tucker had grown out of his awkward phase and now the rest of his body had finally caught up to his arms in proportion. Still wearing his now iconic red beret (not the same one he had at fourteen of course, bad combinations of wear-and-tear and lab explosions had actually cost him a few of them), he'd grown out his hair and now sported braids underneath. He wasn't scrawny anymore, but he wasn't as bulky as Danny had become. In fact, even though Tucker was now a solid six feet, Danny still had him beat by about four inches in the height department. Pile onto that all the mass he'd built and the grey sides he got from constant ghost fighting, and he looked more like his dad than he cared for anyone to admit.

"Okay, so right now I'm guessing you're wondering why I yanked you out of bed at this unholy hour, right?"

"Oh no, Tuck," Danny said, dropping a cd into the stereo to help him wake up, "I'm totally content with just hopping into a car at early-as-hell and for a road-trip going who-knows-where."

"Great, so long as you're good then."

Narrowing his eyes as he pressed play, Danny gave a small smile as he reclined his seat even more. "I hate you, Foley."

"No you don't."

"…alright, you got me."

Laughing as the music started, Tuck and Danny drove in silence for about half an hour. Once they were officially out of the city and Danny was sufficiently awake, they stopped at a twenty four hour gas station to get coffee for Tucker and a slushee and donuts for him.

"Sure you didn't wanna get some coffee," Tuck asked as the two of them leaned against the car, "y'know, like responsible adults are wont to do?"

"Well y'know," Danny said, slurping down his rainbow-colored frozen treat, "since us blowing off our jobs and schoolwork today and just taking off was already screaming 'responsible adults' in this scenario, I figured 'why overdo it'."

"Someone's feeling extra snarky this morning, isn't he?" Tucker said, taking another sip from his steaming cup.

"What can I say, it's like I have a superpower for it."

Standing in silence as the music thumped in the background, the two friends finished their drinks as they watched cows in the neighboring field grazing in the early morning sun.

"So," Danny began as he finished off the last of his morning slushee, "what's up, Tuck? Because I seriously doubt that you woke me up this early just to watch cows in a field."

"Alright, so you remember the last ghost you fought?"

"Yeah, Skulker, who for some reason is _still _trying to hunt me…less frequently though so that's something."

"Exactly." Tucker said, sliding into the car out of the cold December wind, "Danny, it's been seven years and you're still beating up the same old ghosts as before. So what does that say, really?"

"Uhh, that I'll always have job security?"

"Nah man," he said, chuckling as they continued on their journey, "it says that you can do better… or actually, _we_ can do better."

Raising his eyebrow in skepticism, Danny looked over tuck and tried to read his face. "We?"

"Yeah…alright, so hear me out, I've been thinking; aside from Skulker and Box Lunch-"

"Eww still."

"Noted, now of all the ghosts you've dealt with in the last few months, how many of them _actually_ had an actual plan or some motive besides being all floaty and stuff?"

"Y'know, now that I think about it, none that I can think of."

"Alright, now, how many of them have you just crammed inside the thermos as soon as you could?"

Staring forward as he thought back on the last few months between classes and actual work, Danny recounted his experiences and found that he'd done that to "…roughly all of them."

Pulling up to a red light, Tucker tapped his forehead and gave Danny a thumbs up. "Bingo."

"Okay, so _maybe_ I could do better about not shoving ghosts directly into the Ghost Zone just so they can show up again in a few weeks, but you were saying something about a 'we.' We who? Sam's too busy trying for her degree in biological engineering, Valerie's helping me but she's got police commitments and they come first, _you're_ off being a professional nerd, Jazz is just getting her psychologist business up and running, and Dani has a habit off taking off for days without letting us know where she's going. I mean sure, mom and dad are still inventing, but come on, they can't stay at this forever."

"So do you see where I'm going with this?" Tucker said, making an incredibly sharp turn at an intersection.

"No, but I see we're going about ten miles over the speed limit, you wanna slow down there, Speed Racer?"

"Whoops," he said, breaking to the legal speed, "guess I got a little excited."

Glancing at Tucker as the song began to change again, Danny noticed that he was wearing a lazy grin, the kind he wore when he was either planning something terribly devious… or insanely brilliant.

"You're planning something dumb, aren't you?"

"Maybe."

"Tucker…."

"Alright, so you remember the Guys In White, right?"

"The neat freaks who wanted to dissect me, of course."

"Well, okay look don't be mad, but they've been looking at some of the tech I've been building lately-and- they may have offered me a job working for them."

There was a brief silence in the car as the temperature began creeping down, an aura of barely suppressed anger infecting the atmosphere. "Did you say yes?"

"…sort of."

"Sort of?!" Danny shouted as his eyes flashed ghostly green and the electronics in the car began to flicker, "You sort of agreed to help the freaks who spent three years hunting me?! Is that what this road-trip is?! A trap? What, are you turning me in as a part of you initiation or something? What next? Gonna go back and then gift wrap Dani for them too?"

"Crossing a line, dude." Tucker said as his hands tightened on the steering wheel.

"Oh, you're right, Tuck, I _am_ overrating to the news of my best friend working for a group of pencil pushing, soulless, corporate ghost hunting-"

"Danny," Tucker snapped, slamming on brakes in the middle of the nowhere, "dude, see this is why I called road-trip just now, because ever since you went off to college you're so closed off that you think _I'm _taking you into a trap. Really bro? We've been friends nearly all our lives. And do you honestly think _this _is how I'd kidnap you; a moving vehicle that you could just faze out of at any moment? C'mon man, give me a little credit."

Folding his hands across his chest, Danny stopped arguing and tried to calm down from the news he'd just received. "Okay, maybe I was, perhaps, a tiny bit out of line with the accusations, but come on man, even 'sort of' working for the G.I.W is… sketch… at best."

"Duh, which is why we worked out a system."

"Again with the 'we' man, what, do you get paid every time you're vague?"

"No, you star-butted moron," Tucker joked, referencing the glow-in-the -dark boxers he'd gotten Danny a few years ago as a prank, "when you wouldn't pick up, I called your mom and dad for advice on how to handle the situation: when they tell me to make something, I make it good enough to work but crappy enough so that it doesn't work well when they need it."

"Wow…" Danny said, putting the pieces together, "that's actually a solid plan."

"Shocking, isn't it?"

"Little bit, yeah."

"It gets better though." "Tuck said, his small grin evolving into full-fledged smile, "I'm starting my own thing with the money they're paying me for the inventions and I want you to help me out once I get started."

"What, seriously? Dude… that sounds awesome!" Danny said, excitedly rubbing his hands together. "Oh man, with you and my parents working together on ghost stuff we'll be unstoppable!"

"No," Tucker said as the open space of the country slowly began fading into a more urban setting, "you're still thinking small, man, you gotta go bigger. Think about it like this: wouldn't it be a lot easier on all of us if we could figure out why the ghosts keep showing up and how to make them stay gone? Danny, I'm not just starting a ghost hunting business, I'm starting an entire organization for people like us."

"People like us?"

"The ghost hunters tired of coming back to the same thing, the victims of random hauntings trying to find out what's happening, people who end up dealing with weird crap on a daily basis and can't get away from it… attacking the last seven years of our lives in a more functional way."

"Woah," Danny said, brushing his hands across the stubble that had begun to form on his chin, "you're really serious about this aren't you? Have you told any of the others about this?"

"Yeah man, I mean, Dani, Jazz and Sam think it's a good idea and even Valerie, Star, and Kwan all said that if I can make it work then they'd be down to help me, you're the only one who we couldn't get a hold of long enough to talk about it with."

"Oh," Danny whispered, the hurt in his voice showing at the news that he was one of the last to know what was going on in Tucker's life, "guess I really _have_ been out of the loop lately, huh?"

Realizing that he'd unintentionally hurt his friend's feelings, Tucker felt a pang of guilt overtake him. "Dude, come on, you know it's not like that. You're busy at school, we know that. And this just happened about a week ago, so everyone decided it'd be best to hear this from me. I mean, seriously, how would this have sounded coming from anyone other than me? Even coming from Sam or Jazz it would have been messed up to hear."

Letting out a deep sigh, Danny straitened in his seat. Tucker was right. Now that everyone was either working or off at universities, it was hard for any of them to really stay in touch, ghost powers or not. Add into that the fact that his mutual breakup with Sam last year had caused him to be more aloof than usual over the last few months and he could see why he was a little bit out of touch. "Alright," he said, ruffling his hair the way he did when he was frustrated at someone else's logic being right, "so, you do this, this... Winchester… business of yours, cool. I take it everyone else is helping too and now I'm invited?"

"Winchester business?" Tucker asked, shaking his head as a smile danced on his lips. "Danny you giant freaking nerd, but for the most part, yeah. Jazz says she can help with the psychology of it, Sam and Valerie are both volunteering on the forensic side of things, Kwan'll be helping me in the lab and Star said she'll try to help out on the business side of things."

"Oh yeah," Danny said, recalling one of the last times they were all together, "she got her business degree early, didn't she?"

"Yeah, hard to believe after all the hell she gave us in high school how well it all worked out, isn't it?"

"True. How's her girlfriend doing anyway- Julia- I think her name was?"

"Yeah, and last I heard, they're doing pretty great." Tucker answered, grabbing a donut and a soda from the back seat. "You guys can catch up in a few weeks though, assuming you actually remember the Christmas party."

"Ugh, the Christmas party!" Danny yelled, smacking himself on the forehead in frustration. "I totally forgot to get presents for everyone!"

"Don't sweat it, man." Tucker said, patting his gigantic friend on the head as if he were a sad puppy, "You can shop when we get there."

Laughing, Danny swatted his hand away. "Alright, alright, and get where? Where exactly are we going?"

"Nah, no destinations man," Tuck explained as he wagged his sugar-coated finger at Danny, "you know that, road trip rules."

Slowly rekindling their stressed friendship with a few more hours on the road, the two of them began to feel fourteen again as the country-side zoomed past then. No responsibilities, no girlfriends with them, just two dudes relaxing with some embarrassing stories, beef jerky, and a whole heap of fast food and embarrassing pop music thrown into the mix.

"Alright then," Danny said after a while, slyly looking over to the driver's seat where Tucker was jamming out to '_The Show Goes On_', "since you brought it up, does this mean, per road trip rules of course, that I can now ask you incredibly embarrassing details about your current relationship?"

Pausing mid-headbang, Tucker was silent for a moment before turning on Danny and whispering, "You wouldn't dare…"

"Wouldn't I, Tuck?" He began, turning down the volume of the music and clearing his throat with a devilish grin, "Wouldn't I?"

"Danny, don't you dare-"

"So what exactly _are_ your intentions with Dani anyway? You guys have been going out for about a year now, exactly how serious _are_ things? You know you're now under triple holiday stress now, right? I mean, you've got Christmas, New Year's Eve and an anniversary all wrapped into one. super. _week_."

For a moment there was just the faint hum of music as the two of them became completely silent, Tucker's eyes wide on the road. Then, the two of them burst out laughing, a flurry of chip particles and assorted crumbs rattling around them as they continued on their journey.

"Hahahaha, oh man, I missed this," Danny said, his eyes beginning to water at the side, "you just can't get this level of awkward with strangers at college."

"Oh yeah," Tucker responded, pausing to breath between his laughs, "it's good to have you back man."

"So that mean you gonna answer my questions?"

"Hahahahell no, we're here though if that makes you feel better."

"Aw," Danny said as he stepped out of the car and looked around, "you're no fun."

"Dude, please," Tucker replied, "I just gave you an awesome story about scamming government jerks, offered you a job with all of your friends and family, _and_ if you look to your right you'll see that I've just brought you to the best burger place from Amity Park to New York. I'm Tons-o-fun Tuck, man!"

"New York? Is that where we are?" Danny asked as he stretched his incredibly long limbs. "Dude, you realize that this means we have to hit up Midtown Comics while we're here? I mean, it'd be a crime not to!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Tucker said, handing Danny a pair of black sunglasses as he lead them towards the smell of grilling meats, "hold onto to your orange and black there, buddy, this road-trip had a couple of purposes; I'm supposed to be meeting some guy named Arthur Spudinski at Midtown in a few hours anyway. So, until then, let's just enjoy some good old fashion American deliciousness, shall we?"

"Wow," Danny said, slinging his arm around Tuck and rubbing his head, "when did Tucker Foley get so cool?"

"I'm not," Tuck responded, struggling under the mass of full grown Fenton, "college just turned you so lame that in comparison, I look awesome."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he laughed "just shut up and buy me a burger, Techno-geek."


	2. The New Yorkers

Few things were as bad as shopping in New York City in the weeks leading up to Christmas, so it was a good thing that Danny and Tucker had already gotten their shopping done by the time the afternoon rush set in. "Dude," Danny said, unloading the bags from numerous shops that decorated his arms and sliding into the passenger seat of Tuck's car, "New York is awesome! Check it out, I just got all my Christmas shopping done in an hour _and,_" he said as he pulled out a golden-brown tube coated in sugar, "I got _churros_!"

"Yeap," Tucker said as he pulled into traffic, "nothing says NYC like unhealthy street food and mass consumerism from tourist."

"Mmm," Danny moaned through a mouthful of fried deliciousness, "you say words but all I'm hearing is blah blah nerd things."

"Fantastic…" Tuck chuckled as he turned in to Midtown Comics, "evil-doers beware, Danny Phantom has discovered the mighty weapon that is a churro."

"Says the techno-nerd meeting some secret contact in a comic store about secret government nerd things…nerd."

"Oh, way to lay a sick burn on me bro, I'm gonna need some ice for sure."

"Someone's been dipping into the snark powder hasn't he?"

"Yeap," he said, stepping out of the car and bracing himself against the chill of a New York winter, "totally found your stash buddy."

"Damn," Danny said, finishing off his churro with a childish smile, "now I'll have to share."

Laughing, the two of them entered the massive comic book store before being struck silent. "Tucker," Danny whispered as he eyes dashed along the shelves of comics and toys, "if I cry will you judge me?"

"I would," Tucker responded, awed by the sheer number of titles and merchandise, "but the joy I'm feeling right now is overriding my ability to rip on you."

As the two of them stood in the entrance, gaping at the collection in front of them, the doors opened behind them, letting in two New York natives who were on a similar journey. Both of them appeared to be only a few years younger than Danny and Tucker, although their differences played more of a part than their similarities. The first one Tucker recognized from video chats they'd had earlier in the week, his faded green beanie crowning his shaggy brown hair that curled around a permanently relaxed face, the wisps of a goatee peeking out from his chin. Under his jacket, his outfit was simple, a grey t-shirt under an unbuttoned green plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black cargo pants. His tattoos, however, were on a whole different level, alien faces decorating his arms, connected by ancient languages with the empty space filled with various monster designs in 8-bit form. Tucker recognized immediately that Arthur Spudinski was both a genius…and a madman with some dangerously strange ideas.

"Hey," he said, ruffling the snow from his bangs and smiling, the piercing in his bottom lip revealing itself in the motion, "you must be Tucker Foley, right? Awesome. So, like, the name's Arthur P. Spudinski, but uh, most dudes in the know call me 'Spud.' Oh, and I decided that in case you turned out to be an organ thief intent on robbing me of my precious vitals, I should bring my main bro-me-go with me for back-up." Pointing to the shorter guy beside him, Spud nodded as if he'd just revealed a line-backer with a switch-blade as his support. "Dudes, I'd like you to meet my main man, Jake Long. Jake Long, uh… these dudes, Tucker Foley and…his bodyguard? Maybe? I guess?" Studying Danny for a moment, Spud turned away and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment before looking between Jake, Danny, and Tucker. "Yeah… your guy's a lot bigger than mine."

"Yo, for real though… his giant frame and calmness in presence of New Yorkers has made me _extremely_ comfortable and not at all weirded out." Jake joked, calmly placing his palm in Danny's massive hand and shaking. As he flashed his teeth in a mischievous grin, he removed his hood and headphones, immersing himself fully in the conversation. He stood about five inches shorter than Tucker, and without his hood, his facial features were finally on full display for the others to see. A spiky, black-and-green sea of hair sat between two elf-like ears on either side of his face, the ghost-trails of a beard beginning to form on his chin. While he wasn't swollen with muscles, his form still conveyed a wiry strength, lean and toned from years of training with the faint trace of a tattoo peeking out from under his sleeve. What interested Tucker the most about him though, were his eyes. Even though he was only nineteen, his eyes still seemed stained with age; solid, steely black contrasting against the brilliant white of his impish smile.

"Don't sweat it man," Danny said, smiling as he returned his hands to his pockets after the handshake, "the name's Danny Fenton. I'm not a giant or a bodyguard… I'm just freakishly tall."

"Well duh you're not a giant, man," Spud said as he examined the shelves, "you're way too small."

"What?"

"I mean, like, not that I've _seen_ giants before or anything, but I'm guessing that if- and this is totally hypothetical speaking here- giants existed, they'd be roughly three times your height."

"Spud, drop it."

"Dude," Tucker replied, scanning the shelves and picking out several issues of _Witch Doctor_, "don't sweat it. We come from a town that gets attacked by _ghosts_ every other day, I have no trouble believing any of this."

"Chill with that ghost talk, dude," Jake said, eyeing the two strangers suspiciously, "wouldn't want people thinking you're like, weirdos or something, right?"

Stopping mid-way through his browsing, Danny turned and towered over the New Yorker, his eyes flashing green for a brief moment. "What was that about 'weirdos,' short stuff?"

"Look yo, all that ghost stuff may be cool where you're from, but around here, if we ain't talkin' sports or skates, we keep it out of the streets, ya dig? Besides," he said as he blinked his eyes into reptilian slits and then back again, "you're not the only one who can pull of the 'tough-guy eyes.'"

Shaking his head, Danny looked around to see if anyone else had seen what had just happened. "What the-"

"Whoa there you two," Tucker said as he and Spud got between the escalating scene, each pulling their respective friend away while a small crowd began to gather, "let's tuck 'em back in, shall we?"

"Yeah dudes, how bout we all just grab our merch, take off, snag fro-yo and talk this through?"

Relaxing his stance, Danny put his hands on his hips and breathed out, embarrassed at how quick he'd been set off. "Yeah alright…I could go for fro-yo."

"Of course you could," Spud said, smiling and leading the two of them out of the store while Tucker apologized to the people who were staring and paid for the few comics they'd gotten, "fro-yo makes _everything_ better. Well, unless someone's lactose intolerant, in which case it's probably just a horrible reminder of how unobtainable joy often is."

"….Are you high right now?"

"Just on life, man… just on life."

Luckily for the four of them, New York's frozen yogurt scene was only a few blocks away from the comic store, but unfortunately, that didn't stop the car-ride there from being awkward and uncomfortable. "Hey! Why am _I_ in the back-seat," Danny huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting, "_he_ started it."

"What?" Jake gasped, "Dude, you're the one who got all up in my grill back there. It's like someone flipped a switch and you went from harmless giant to like, a straight-up ogre."

"I just…I don't handle people calling me a 'freak' well, okay? Some bad experiences in high school left a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to people hurling insults like that. And let's just say I've gotten into the habit of playing hero since then."

"Aww, man," Jake said, throwing his head back and thumbing the bridge of his nose, "see, now I feel like a dick. Look, high school was wack for pretty much everybody- no doubt- but you can't go popping off at everyone who says It's just… you can't go around a city like this blabbing on about ghosts, man, otherwise they'll have you fitted for a tin hat in no time. Still, I guess I'm like sorry…or something."

"Yeah, well, I've been on edge these last few weeks, so I may have overacted-"

"-Again-"

"Thank you for that input, Tucker- but we're cool, man. But about that 'giant' stuff," Danny said, pointing an accusatory finger at Spud, "what was that all about? And better yet, what was that eye-thing about back there in the store?"

"I could ask you the same thing, headlights," he responded, "neat trick, by the way."

"I, uh, yeah, see-"

"So, Spud," Tucker cut in, saving Danny from one of his notoriously bad explanations, "have you thought about what I asked you last week? I mean New York's a big city after all, you think you could handle it?"

"Totally dude," Spud answered, absentmindedly playing chess on his phone, "but uh, I still think you're casting the net a little small by focusing _just_ on ghosts? I mean-"

"Hold the heck up," Jake said, he and Danny coming to a mutual agreement to put the conversation on hold to see what they were missing out on, "what exactly have you two been discussing? In fact, how long have you even known each other?"

"Oh, right, my bad." Tuck said, laughing as if it were a small oversight. "Alright, so you guys remember that old chat site that was in the news a while ago, Paranet?"

"Yeah, some Goth guy ran it from his mom's basement, right?"

"Yeap, until last year when the owner got nailed for that mass suicide ritual he tried to pull off. That's when the domain was seized and sold off through a government ghost auction on eBay, which- thanks to some _minor _hacking- I won."

"Dude…"

"Respect, bro."

"Thank you, thank you, your praises _are_ well deserved, but it gets better. See, if a certain someone would check his e-mails, he'd know that Sam and I revamped the Paranet a while ago so that it now functions as a national connect system for anyone with supernatural or strange news who doesn't want the Guys in White jumping down their backs."

"That's where I come in. A couple of months ago I was looking through some game forums and saw these bros bagging on the p-net, saying it was full of weirdos and crazy people and I thought, 'wow, that sounds right up my alley.' So I checked it out and it turns out, most of these people are like, super serious about this supernatural business, so I dive right in with my…theories…about the New York nightlife and then _bam_! Site-master Foley is chatting me up. But I mean, think about it; if ghosts are out there, who's to say that like, monsters and mermaids and trolls and stuff aren't out there too…hypothetically speaking."

"True…which is why I wanted your input before we got the ball rolling on this project. Your messages from the last few months make it kind of obvious that NYC has some class-A weirdness going on in it; unicorns, trolls, giants… _dragons_."

"Dragons?" Jake and Spud said together, their voices tight against the sounds of New York traffic.

"I uh, I never mentioned anything about dragons, Techno-dude."

"No, but after we started talking I did some looking into New York's night life and found a bunch of grainy-looking photos of some giant, winged, lizard-thing, and my money's saying it may be a dragon."

"Aight," Jake scoffed, rolling his eyes in the backseat, "you just keep laying down bills then homie."

"Actually," Danny said, stroking his chin in remembrance, "it wouldn't be that surprising."

"Oh what, you know something about dragons too, Fenton?"

"Well, not really _know_, per se, but when we were younger there was this…friend… of ours. She used to tell us stories of a lost kingdom where the queen and her brother were actually dragons in the form of humans."

"Thi- this wouldn't happen to be the story of Dorathea and Aragon, would it?"

"Uh, yeah, actually" Tucker confirmed, suddenly intrigued by Jake, "…you about know it?"

"Sort of, before my grandfather passed away last year he, uh, he used to tell me and my sister these…dragon tales, stories about dragons all over the world." Pulling up his jacket sleeve, Jake revealed the image of a blue, Chinese dragon coiling around his right forearm and onto his shoulder. "In fact, I got _this_ a few months ago for the anniversary of his passing. Dragons are kind of a big deal in my family."

"Dude, no explanation necessary." Danny said, removing his jacket and displaying his shoulder. "I come from a family of ghost hunters, and you can't see it right now, but there's a black-light tattoo right here of the Ghost Busters logo."

"Yo," Jake said, stifling a laugh, "please tell me he's joking."

"He's not," Tucker explained as he pulled into the parking lot of Taste-NYC, "when we were eighteen, a bunch of us decided it'd be cool to get tattoos as a group and Danny, being Danny of course, decided it would be hilarious for him to get a ghost tattoo that, surprise, was technically invisible."

"Seriously, dude? Sweeeet."

"Thank you, Spud. See Foley, at least _someone _appreciates my genius."

"Hard to appreciate what's not there, Fenton."

Laughing together as they exited the car, the four of them entered the shop, the hustle and bustle of city life passing them by. Later, after gorging themselves on frozen yogurt, Danny and Tucker dropped Jake and Arthur off at their apartment. "Well dudes, it's been real," Jake said, throwing his hood on as the wind in the city picked up, "thanks again for the treats and… y'know, the weirdly intense bonding experience earlier."

"Yeah," Spud cut in, "who knew meeting strangers in a comic shop to talk about dead guys and monsters could turn out so fun."

"Don't sweat it you guys, we needed this day off," Tucker said, adjusting his glasses to prevent them from falling off, "besides, how often do you get to see a grown man get cut off from a fro-yo topping bar for 'excessive topping use.'"

"Hey, I'm a big man, Tuck," Danny responded defensively, "I am a very large man and if I want triple gummi-bear rations, well then dammit I'mma get triple gummi-bear rations."

"Riiiggghtttt. So anyway, if you guys still want in on this just give me a call, we could always use more people on our side."

"Totally, bro, count us in."

"Cool. Now, we gotta hit the road soon, but if you guys think of anyone else you think could help out just hit up one of us on the paranet and- "

"Private First Class Trixie Carter," Spud said without hesitation, "she's with us most definitely."

"True, Rose Anderson, too." Jake agreed, leaning against the car and puffing out small trails of smoke.

"Done." Tucker said as he slid into the driver's seat and started the car. "Well, like you said Jake, it's been real, but we've got a car full of shopping bags to unload and a crap-ton of work to catch up on before Christmas. We'll catch up next time we're in New York… or who knows, maybe you guys could swing through Amity Park, see how the other half lives."

"Yeah," Danny said, hoping into the passenger's side and putting his shades back on, even though the sun was rapidly setting in the distance, "you might even learn a thing or two. Oh, and Jake…"

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget," he said as he peered over the tops of his shades, flashing his eyes ghostly-green as Tucker revved the engine, "keep your eyes peeled."

"Don't worry, bro," Jake responded, flashing Danny a wicked grin and a dragon's stare as he and Spud watched their car disappear into the flow of New York traffic, "I think we've got it covered."


	3. The Rendezvous

Danielle wasn't sure what annoyed her more; the fact that Tucker had disappeared in the middle of the night minute, only leaving a note, or the fact that she now knew how it felt and she had to admit that she didn't like it. Never the less, she continued with her plans for the day, crossing the room to reach her phone so that she could call Valerie and they could get on with their day. Rustling her hair and flopping onto the couch, she lazily dialed Val's number to confirm their plans.

"Hey," Valerie answered, breathing heavy from her late-morning workout, "what's up, Elle?"

"Nothing much, just checking to make sure we're all still on for dinner tonight."

"Yeah, but we moved up the time an hour, Star has a consultation, Jazz has a flight out tonight and Sam has a bio-chem final she wants to study for, that cool?"

"Yeah," Dani said, hanging upside down off the couch and drumming on her stomach, "I'm just bored is all. I woke up and Tucker was gone so now I'm just sitting here in my pjs playin' the belly drum."

"...Sir Mix-a-lot?"

"You know me so well."

"Too well sometimes," she laughed, "and don't sweat it, I'm sure Tuck's fine, he probably just had another idea he had to nerd-out about."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"When have I even been wrong?"

"How about those three years you didn't figure out Danny _Fenton_ and Danny _Phantom_ were the same person?" Dani said, a smug grin dancing across her face.

"Never gonna let that go, are you?"

"Sure…in about three years."

"Just shut up and go put on pants."

"How do you know I'm not wearing pants?"

"Because it's like noon and your pajamas are like ninety percent booty-shorts."

"Yeah," she said, standing up and going back into the bedroom to find clothes for day, "but they're comfortable and make my butt look hella cute."

"Says who?"

"Says your face!" Hanging up the phone, Dani got dressed as rain began pounding the windows, serene in its monotony. Afterwards, she decided that since she had a few hours to kill before her lunch with the others, she could play a little Mario Kart. Unfortunately, she got upset about thirty minutes in after someone online repeatedly chose Rainbow Road as the course so she stuck with reading for the next couple of hours. Finally, once it was time for her to leave, she reached for her keys and umbrella before remembering that Tucker had the keys.

"Ugh," she exclaimed, once again upset with him, "great, now I have to call for a ri …wait, duh, I can fly."

Taking off, Dani made herself intangible so that the rain would pass right through her and made her way downtown. As she landed on the roof of their agreed meeting spot, she fazed into the roof and floated just above the tables, looking around for the rest of her group. Spotting them in the far right corner, she resisted the urge to startle them and opted instead to just walk over there.

The first person she saw her was Jazz, the oldest Fenton sibling and the youngest psychotherapist in the history of Amity Park. Comparative to the rest of the group, Jazz looked the most comfortable in the restaurant setting she'd chosen, sitting relaxed in a powder blue suit and talking nonchalantly with Star. Recently, she'd cut her bright, auburn hair shorter, so now instead of flowing down her back, her curled locks rested comfortably just below her shoulders. She'd filled out some since high school but hadn't grown any taller, so now she appeared just as motherly and sweet as she acted; ironic considering how adamant she was that kids were a long way off. "Dani," she called, waving to her from across the room, "you made it!"

"Of course I made it, would I flake on you guys…y'know…twice." Sitting down between Valerie and Julia, Dani took stock of everyone seated around her. Valerie was without a doubt the tallest one there, towering over the others with the sleek and muscular build of a fighter but the energy of a big sister (which to Dani, she pretty much was). Since she was off duty for the week (their idea, not hers), the majority of her hair was pulled back into a curled mohawk and the remainder had been braided on the sides, creating an elegant plumage effect. Her arms were much thicker than Dani's, muscles built up from years of karate that she still trained every chance she got. Val wore a dangerous kind of beauty, like that of a lioness, topped with relaxed and caring smile, a smile that she knew would disappear the second she felt that someone was threatening an innocent. She was cool like that.

Directly across from her was Sam, her disheveled hair and baggy eyes a sure sign that she'd been up late studying again. For the most part, Sam had grown out of her extreme Goth phase and was now just a person with a very dark wardrobe and a few skull accessories. About a year ago she'd finally stopped wearing her hair in its signature pony-tail style, opting instead for wearing it like a curtain of black silk that framed her face, the tips stained with violet. Also, years of ghost-fighting with Danny had given some light-muscular weight to her previously thin arms and stomach, adding to the aura of deadly attractiveness she'd had for years.

Beside Sam sat Jazz to the left and Star to the right. Star (though she now preferred to be called Alicia in the presence of potential business partners) looked happier than she'd ever been at Casper High. Her hair was layered so that it accentuated her already beautiful facial features, making her eyes shine like two unbroken turquoise pools in sunlight. Around her neck she wore a star sapphire ring attached to silver chair, the mate to which -an emerald and gold ring- was placed delicately on Julia's finger, their hand's intertwined as they made conversation from across the table. Julia, whom Dani had only seen twice before, was about her age with frizzy, red hair and smooth, alabaster skin that was only broken by the lines of freckles dancing across her nose and down her. Her jade eyes seemed to glow brighter when she heard Star's laugh and when she spoke in her soft, relaxed voice it was like hearing a kitten recite Shakespeare.

Watching the others begin conversing, Dani absentmindedly swiped some fries off of Jazz's plate, a remnant skill of her nomadic days. Thankfully, she'd gotten better at controlling here impulses in the last few months, though she still sometimes "borrowed" Tucker's hoodies without his permission. Over the last few years she'd finished filling out, no longer the awkward twelve year old runaway but instead now the semi-sophisticated young adult. Her hair was still kept in its signature ponytail and red beanie most of the time, but lately she'd begun experimenting with wearing it down. While not as muscular as the other hunters, Dani still liked to run around with them and as a result had acquired a runner's physique, favoring quick movements over hand-to-hand combat. "So, how's it been hanging?"

"Pretty good actually," Sam responded, poking around a cherry tomato with her fork, "I'm passing all of my classes and once I'm done with my exams tomorrow, I actually get to go home and sleep for a change."

"Ah college," Jazz said, stirring sugar into her drink, "nothing says fun like perpetual exhaustion and anxiety over decent grades."

"I'll drink to that." Star chimed in, raising her glass.

"Here, here!"

Clinking their glasses together, the six ladies laughed together and began catching up on the last few months. "Mmph, so did you guys hear that Freakshow dug up another cemetery in Florida?"

"Wait, what?!"

"Yeap, they caught him with six bodies this time."

"Yooo, what the actual hell," Valerie said, nearly choking on her burger, "how was he **_not_** under permanent lockdown after everything that happened last time?"

"Faulty legal system." Star explained as she drove a knife into her steak.

"Real comforting coming from our purposed legal representation, Twinkles."

"Says the officer of the law who once fisherman suplexed a chick in the Nasty Burger parking lot."

"She was stealing girl scout cookies!"

Pausing as she lifted her glass to her lips, Star shrugged. "…alright fair point. But back to that Freakshow news…"

"Huh?" Jazz said as she played with the last pieces of chicken left on her plate. "Oh, right! Yeah, so the cops were apparently responding to call reporting a noise complaint and when they got to the place they found him with an old spell book trying to –and I quote- raise the dead."

"Whoa," Sam breathed, her amethyst eyes wide with shock as she remembered her last encounter with the the fromer Goth kingpin. Four years ago, he'd broken out of prison and began recruiting an army of goths to try to take over Amity Park, and if they hadn't snapped Danny and Tucker out of his control before it was too late then they'd all still be living in his _Gothtopia_. "That's messed up even for him."

"Nope," Dani responded, pushing her plate away in favor of her milkshake, "that's just Florida."

Star was going to say more, but a quick glance at Julia told her it was a good time to stop. While the five of them had grown up together and were used to conversations like this from Casper High, Julia was from New York, and while she was used to hearing awful things, she still felt uncomfortable with the ease of which people discussed the supernatural in Amity Park. Still, she tried to be supportive of Alicia around her friends and was relieved that she (Star) knew her well enough to see when she was getting uncomfortable.

"So, Sam," she began, propping her elbows up and lacing her fingers together, "what do you think of the _Crash Nebula_ casting for Ani?"

"Ugh, _please_ don't get me started on that." Sam responded, burying her head in her hands, "I feel bad enough about breaking up with Danny like I did, but now _Paulina -_of all people-is starring in that astro-nerd's wet dream movie? The universe obviously has a faulty sense of humor."

"Aww sweetie," Jazz said as she began patting her back, "it's alright. Do you need to talk about it?"

"How much is your going rate?"

"About ninety-five dollars an hour."

"Yeah, I think I'm good with swallowing emotions."

"Emotions go down easier with ice-cream," Valerie said, "trust me on this one."

"The ice cream here's not vegan, Val."

"What a coincidence," she said, shoveling a spoonful into her mouth, "neither am I."

Continuing with their rendezvous until three of them had to leave; Dani, Valerie and Julia were left talking at the bar. However, considering that the only one who had ordered a drink was Val, all three of them were surprised when the bartender slid a fancy looking drink in front of Julia. "Bu-but I didn't order anything."

"It's from the gentleman down there." The bartender, Mickey, said, smiling as he wiped down the bar.

"Uhhh…do I tell him thanks?" she said, nervously running her hand down her arm. "I-I'm not even old enough to drink for another three weeks."

"Then just say thanks but no thanks," Mickey answered, "he seems like a big boy, I'm sure he can take a hint."

"Dear god, you're adorable." Val said, watching him pour drinks.

Waving at the guy who sent her a drink, Julia told Mickey to send him one back, feeling it was only polite. Surprisingly, he got up and began strutting down the bar to where she was sitting, a cocky smile decorating his face. "Hey, baby," he said, sliding onto the barstool next to her, "what's the matter with the drink I sent? Need something a little…stronger… maybe."

"..or not."

"Oh my god," Dani said, rolling her eyes, "is this dude being serious."

"I'm not entirely sure but it's totally hilarious either way."

Scooting closer to Julia, the guy slung his arm around her, the smell of cheap cologne wafting downwind. "Hey," he called, tapping on the bar, "how about two whiskey sours for me and the lady here."

"How about you get your arm of the lady- who by the way, didn't say you could even touch her- and then learn to say please," Mickey said, hard-eying the punk, "maybe you'll get a drink then."

"I don't hear her complaining."

Standing up, Valerie walked to where he and Julia were sitting and promptly removed his arm from around her, the stink of alcohol and hair gel causing her to turn up her nose. "Probably because she's choking on that rainbow of smells you've got bouncing off of you."

"And uh, speaking of rainbows…" Julia said, moving closer to Valerie and Dani, "did I mention that I'm kind of really, _really_ gay."

"Oh," he said, adjusting his collar, "well uh, you obviously just ain't been with the right man."

"No but I've got a pretty _great_ lady, so I think I'm set."

"Oh for the love of- you heard the girl," Mickey said, putting down his glass and shooing the unwanted suitor, "be gone with you."

"Yo man, I ain't talkin to you _or_ these two little harpies, aight, so how bout y'all step off?" Shooting to his feet, he began angrily walking back to his seat, pausing to shove Valerie as he passed. Turning, she grabbed him by the shirt, twisting the guy over her shoulder and slung him across the bar, her form mastered through years of training. Just her luck, he came crashing down in front of his friends, who were all now laughing as they stood over him. "Please tell me someone was recording that?"

"Check please, Mickey."

Exiting the bar to the applause of other patrons, Val tossed her keys to Dani, sliding in to the front seat while Julia hopped in the back. "Dude," Julia said, excitedly drumming on the back of the seats, "that was awesome Valerie!"

"Yeah it was," Dani laughed, turning down the street to Julia's apartment, "I almost peed my pants laughing when that jerk came crashing down."

"Well then," Val said, fumbling with the radio, "maybe now some people will learn a little more respect when people tell them 'no.'"

Dropping Julia off, Dani and Valerie waved to her before pulling off, the roads clear in the night air. "So…" Val said flopping her head over to look at Dani.

"So?"

"No drink tonight?

"What? Pshh, no… you know I'm under-aged."

"Righhht," Val said, smiling and half drunk, "like I don't know that you steal sips off my drinks when we go out. Something you care to share?"

"Nope," Dani answered, drumming her fingers nervously along the wheel, "don't know what you're talking about."

"Are you sure about that?"

"…no."

"You wanna spend the night so we can talk about it."

"Why miss Gray," Dani said, flashing Valerie a halfhearted smile, "are you trying to seduce me?"

"Well," she said, pulling out her receipt from the bar and turning it over to where Mickey had written his number, "I _do_ have that effect on people."


	4. The Uninvited

Amity Park was _really_ just not Jake Long's cup of tea, and considering how much he loved tea, that really said something. Landing on the tallest building he could find, he reverted back to his human form, the mixture of snow and cool night air causing him to shiver as he waited for his contact to show up. "Bad enough I had to fly two hours to this damn city on Christmas eve," he said, rubbing his hands together and cradling a small flame, "but I have to deal with some sort of werewolf nonsense too? Thanks, Fu, good looking out."

Watching as the snow fell on the city bellow, Jake felt his pocket vibrate, a welcome sensation compared to the stillness and relative dread that the city was providing him. "Yo," he answered, still scanning the streets for his target, "what up, Trix?"

"Jakie," she said, "ay, where you at baby?"

"Amity Park," he responded, "why? Something going down on your end that's needs the am-drag's personal touch?"

"Uhh, no, but I feel like you're forgetting something very important about today."

"Oh, my bad, Merry early Christmas."

"Yeah Jakie, it's Christmas Eve, and you done gone and flown off to who knows where, neglecting a very important aspect of it…"

Thinking hard about what she could of meant, Jake pinched the bridge of his nose on frustration. After high school, Trixie had gone to a university to begin studying medicine. However, while she had originally aspired to be a doctor, she had instead decided to go into the armed forces after a few semesters, getting an early rank promotion to private first class. "Aww man, you came home today… didn't you?"

"Yeah, and without you here for the party it's just me, pops, mom… and _Spud_."

"C'mon Trix, you make that sound like a bad thing," Jake said, smiling until he spotted a large beast darting through a nearby alley, "… and speaking of bad things…gotta go, Trix, we'll talk more later."

"Aight then Jakie, you go do you, but you _better_ be home for Christmas. Mama Trixie out."

Soaring across the rooftops, Jake slid down the fire escape, lading on the platform above the massive figure huddled in front of the garbage bins. "What the…" The creature was large, even for a werewolf, and covered in coarse black fur and what seemed to be a prison uniform. His eyes shone with an eerie green light, disturbingly bright against the darkness of the alley. He had massive, claw-less paws and a long shaggy tail, walking upright and displaying considerable intelligent despite the intense animalistic hunger that seemed to radiate from it his gargantuan body. All this however, was still not as odd as the fact that Jake swore he could almost see _through_ the damn thing, or that he could swear the temperature around the creature was lower than usual and that it had no visible breathing pattern.

"Well… this is new."

Slowly, he stepped down from the fire escape, trying desperately not to startle the creature. Unfortunately, as he began backtracking to the ladder, the old metal creaked, causing the wolf's ears to perk up and a low growl to escape from its throat.

"Oh… _dicks_."

"Embusko {Ambush}!" Thrusting his paw out, the creature's claws extended from the dull stumps of his paws, glowing the same eerie green as its eyes.

Falling through the shredded remains of the platform, Jake rolled off of the garbage bin and landed crouched in front of the giant wolf-creature. "Easy there big fella," he said, throwing his hands up defensively as Wulf advanced on him, "I'm not gonna hurt you, understand? I'm Jake Long, the American dragon…uh, mi estas magia protektanto, vi estas lupo, dekstra {I am the magical protector, you're a werewolf, right}?"

As Wulf leaned in, he inhaled deeply in Jake's face, the putrid combination of dog breath and corpse breath nearly overwhelming him. "Hmm, vi ne estas kiel ni, sed ne ŝatas ilin , vi estas la savonta {You are not like them, yet not like us, are you the one we seek}?"

"Uhh… _jes_?"

Rearing up with a loud, angry, howl, Wulf began drawing back his paws, the claws on each one now fully extended and deadly sharp in the moonlight. "Amiko, mi trovis la savonta {Friend, I have found him}!"

"Aw man, wait, no, uh… damn, what is it… neniu!" Jake yelped as he barely dodged the first swing of Wulf's claws, his shoulder now deep red with blood. "Alright," he said, baring his teeth and pressing down on his wound to keep the cuts from bleeding him out too much, "you wanna play rough? Fine then, no more 'Mr. Nice guy'… _dragon up_!"

Summoning a cloak of fire, Jake wrapped himself in an inferno of mystical heat, stunning Wulf and healing the cuts he'd received at the same time. Stepping out from the flames, Jake roared and flexed his new wings, slinging flicks of fire into the night air as he rose up to his full height, towering over the shaggy wolf-ghost at nearly seven feet tall. Green spines now lined the spine of his crimson-scaled body, rigid from head to tail, his arms and legs awash with thick reptilian muscle and tipped with wicked-sharp claws. His massive, leathery wings almost filled the alley, their tips newly christened with swirling black marks that disappeared into the night when folded against his body. Blinking, he revealed glowing yellow eyes, his pupils now reptilian slits on either side of a wide snout atop a mouth full of deadly fangs. "**_Lasi!_**"

Roaring, Jake loomed over Wulf, leaving the ghost blinking in disbelief at the turn of events. Never taking his eyes off of the dragon, he slashed at a nearby wall, disappearing into a swirling green portal that oozed with cold, dead energy. "Well," he said, reverting back to his human form to examine the newly created tear in space, "this is both _really_ cool and **_extremely_** frustrating." Pulling out his cell phone, Jake dialed the number to his old animal guardian, a 600 year old Chinese shar-pei who looked after his Grandfather's shop while he was out of town. "Aye yo, Fu, what do you have on green, swiriling portals that pop up out of nowhere?"

After a brief moment of silence broken by only the sound of pages turning, Fu came back with answer. "Sounds like you've got a portal to the Dead Plains on your hands, kid."

"_Dead Plains_?"

"Yeah, it's the place that every ghost in existence goes to after the kick the bucket. It's also not a bad place to find time portals too, y'know, if you know where to look."

"And you said this is the home to every ghost?" Jake asked, staring longingly at the revealed patch of his tattoo, a blue futs-lung dragon that covered half of his arm. "Every single ghost?"

"Yeapparoni. Every deceased person, every ghost baby, every slain creature… all traipsing around in there somewhere."

"…Ghost babies?"

"Yeah…it's a long story, I'll tell you when you're older. Anywho, there's a lot of names for tha place and they all give me the willies; Dead Zone, Valley of Souls, Spirit Lands, Phantom Kingdom, _Ghost Zone, _I mean _yeash_."

Reaching into his coat pocket, Jake pulled out his a small ring made of iron and rock salt that was inlaid with exorcism spells, a gift from his friends Sara and Kara for his birthday earlier that year. Sliding it on, Jake ran his hand across the tear in the wall, the ring instantly rising in temperature as it came into contact with whatever the other dimension was made of. Watching as the portal began collapsing in on itself, he quickly removed his hand from the wall, careful not to get the ring trapped on the other side of it. "Whoa," he said, shaking his hand to cool down the ring, "gotta love those Oracles."

Just as Jake was about to walk away, content with a job well done, a blast of nuclear-green energy knocked him into a pile of garbage. Digging his way out, Jake was surprised to see a large figure floating over him, his eyes and hands glowing green with ectoplasmic energy. "Alright, creep," the guy said, watching as Jake pulled himself out from the cluster of garbage bags that'd been piled in a corner, "you've got about three seconds to tell me what you did to Wulf and how you just sealed off the Ghost Zone before I beat the answers out of you."

"Well," Jake said, his anger overwhelming reason as he cleaned himself off, "a) 'Wulf' as you call him -real original by the way- tried to slice me to ribbons and I didn't too much appreciate that so I sent him packing, and b)…" he said running up to the ghost and then diving under him, pivoting to kick him in the back. While his new opponent was caught off guard, Jake launched himself off of the ruins of an old air-conditioner, slamming his open palm onto the back of the ghost's head and tackling him into the garbage. "...hope you like the taste of cold iron and rock salt, punk."

Standing up, Jake looked down to examine the ectoplasm that should have been left from the ghost being exorcised. He was surprised however, when instead he saw an unconscious Danny Fenton lying beneath him, a small ring of white light collapsing around his waist. "Oh…" Jake said, quickly removing his ring before he caused anymore (unintentional) damage, "oh this cannot be a good thing." Hoisting Danny, Jake began tapping his face, really hoping that whatever he did hadn't just permanently shut him down.

Slowly, as Danny began regaining consciousness, his survival instinct kicked in and he grabbed Jake by the arm, using the advantageous size difference to pin him against the wall. "Ow. Yo-you, who are you? What'd you just to me? Whu-where's Wulf?"

"Let go, you giant nerd," Jake yelled, summing his dragon flames on his arms to disorient Danny even more, "it's me!" Throwing Danny off, Jake turned and removed his hood, revealing his face and throwing his hands up in a sign of non-violence. "It's Jake Long, remember? We met in New York a few weeks ago?"

Blinking through the pain building in his head, Danny began to focus more on the guy standing in front of him. "Ja-jake" he said, shaking off the last of his confusion, "you're the one who was after Wulf?"

"What? No!" Jake said, offering Danny a hand. "I got a call saying that… something… was up in Amity Park, so I showed up. Next thing I know, this Wulf-guy is yelling at me -in Esperanto of all languages- and swinging claws at everything. Then, he tore open that portal and hopped through it and I was investigating it until _you_ showed up and shot me, which, by the way, hurts."

"You were talking to someone and then you closed the portal though," Danny said, recalling the last few minutes of their lives before everything went white for him, "then you did some kind of kung-fu jump and…" He stopped and looked down at his clothes, quiet terror overtaking him as he realized he wasn't in ghost mode anymore and was now standing in an alley as Danny Fenton, _not_ Danny Phantom. "Oh no."

"Yeah," Jake said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, "you snuck up on me so I kind of…**_knocked_** the ghost out of you…temporarily at least."

"How? And more importantly, why aren't you freaking out? _I'm_ freaking out why aren't you?!"

Pulling out the Oracle's ring, Jake held it up so that Danny could see the inscriptions and what it was made of. "It's a ring that basically lets you punch ghosts of people," he said, sliding it back into his pocket, "great anti-possession stuff. And to be fair, Danny, I'm not freaking out because I'm no stranger to things going bump in the night. Though why you were just floating- and had snow white hair and glowing green eyes- is an explanation I am _very_ interested in hearing."

"Uh, well…" looking around the alley, Danny blushed and stroked his chin, "have you ever heard of _Danny Phantom_ in New York?"

"You are freaking kidding me," Jake said incredulously, "it really _is_ you? _You_?! I mean, yeah, when we first met I was skeptical because, c'mon, two separate six-foot-four guys named Danny from roughly the same region, there had to be a connection…but _you_?!" Holding his stomach, Jake keeled over and began laughing, leaning on to the wall for support. "Yoooooo. You mean to tell me that the great scourge of souls, th-the guardian of ghosts, the **_almighty phantom_**… is the same giant dork who got kicked out of a frozen yogurt place for _excessive candy usage_?! Bwahahaha I can't even…oh god, my sides!"

Staring at the young man who was currently rolling around on the ground laughing, Danny crossed his arms over his chest and angrily began tapping his foot. "Wait a minute… why is that funny? …how do you know so much about ghosts? …**_who the hell are you?!_**"

"I'm Jake Long," Jake said, standing up and wiping the tears from his eyes, "and right now, I'm the guy you really want on your team in this situation. Don't worry though," he said, watching as Danny tried to transform into his ghost form with little success, "the incantation on the ring says it only shuts down small-time poltergeists and anomalies, so I figure since you're not an evil ghost or a tear in dimensions, your powers should be back in about… six hours? Give or take."

"Gee, that's great," Danny said, giving up after the fifth failed transformation didn't even summon his usual white light, "so I'm powerless until Christmas morning?"

"Yeah…sorry about that."

Letting out a deep sigh, Danny shoved his hands into his pockets, suddenly realizing how oblivious to the temperature he'd gotten while his powers were active. "Yeah well, it's partially my fault for blasting you on sight, so I guess we're square. But we need to leave," he said, looking around the alley, "all that noise is bound to attract the police to here and I really don't want to be here for questioning on Christmas eve."

"Way ahead of you." Jake said, now looking down at Danny from the adjacent rooftop.

"How did you…"

"I'm guessing your place is the building with the giant "Fenton" sign out front, so I'll meet you there after I finish my sweep. Oh," he said, tossing down his exorcism ring to Danny, "take this. This city is lousy with ghosts, many of whom I'm guessing you're familiar with, but you can't be too careful."

"Jake," Danny called, watching as he disappeared into the shadow of the building, "_Jake!_ Ugh, and they say _I_ don't listen." Sliding the ring into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and began running back to Fenton Works through the brisk December air, dialing Tucker's number as he went. "Tuck, hey, so… it turns out we've got bigger issues than some uninviteds running around, the biggest one being that my powers are shut down for a while. Oh, and you remember that Jake Long dude we met in New York? Yeah, turns out that he knows a little more about the paranormal than he let on."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, it may have something to do with the fact that he just smacked the Phantom out of me with a magic ring... or that he just took off running through the rooftops… _alone_."

"So you going after him?"

"Nah, not now. But I _am_ calling a group meeting at Fenton Works in about ten minutes so we can get to the bottom of what exactly the hell's going on lately… because I'm like ninety percent sure the New Yorker's are keeping secrets us."

"Seriously? _What_ a surprise."

"I know right," Danny said, the faint traces of a smile dancing on his lips as he climbed onto his bike and revved the engine, "and normally everyone's _so_ open with each other around here."


	5. The Extravagant

As he pulled into the garage of his childhood home, Danny knew that this was going to be the longest six hours of his life. Unlocking the door, he was surprised to find Tucker, Sam, Jazz and Valerie already inside, each one sitting with a cup of hot chocolate and a plate of Christmas cookies set out between them. "Dude," Tucker said, munching off the top off a Christmas tree cookie, "check it out,_non-terrible_ vegan cookies. It's a Christmas miracle."

Glaring at Tucker, Danny sauntered in and flopped into the empty space between him and Sam. "So, let me get this straight," he said, reaching out to grab a treat, "I tell you that I've been punched powerless by a five-foot street punk… and your first response is to eat cookies and hot chocolate?"

"In all fairness," Valerie said, "these _are_ pretty good cookies."

While Jazz handed Danny a mug of hot chocolate, Tucker leaned forward and turned on the television, flipping through the channels until he found a suitable channel. "So what happened out there, man? Did Long sneak up on you or-?"

"No. In fact, if anything, I snuck up on him." Danny said, dropping his head in shame, "Turns out that he didn't appreciate that too much, because he used_this_," he said, pulling out the exorcism ring Jake had given him before taking off and handing it to Tucker to look over, "to shut down my powers."

Running his fingers over the carving in the iron, Tuck whistled and tossed the ring over to Sam. "Whoa, so you were serious it when you said 'magic ring,' huh?"

"I know right," Sam said, sliding the ring onto her finger and examining it in the light of _How The Grinch Stole Christmas, _"and talk about old school. Latin engravings? Cast iron studded with rock salt? Hell, just looking at this thing is enough to give me a Goth-gasm."

"Sam!" Jazz gasped as she snatched the ring away from her, "_So_ inappropriate. But she's right you know,"

"About the goth-gasm?"

"Eww, no. I mean that this is seriously low-tech considering the advancements in ghost hunting that have been made in the last thirty some years, any idea why that Jake -guy had it?"

"That's the thing!" Danny yelled, startling everyone in the room and throwing his arms up in frustration. "I mean, one minute he's all "ay yo dawg we don't talk about ghosts and stuff in the NYC, ya heard?" and now he's out there acting like dealing with things like this is completely normal for him."

"Weird kid who acts really sketchy when the paranormal show up," Valerie cut in, eying Danny as she bit a snowman cookie in half, "gee, now where have I seen_that_ before?"

"She has a point, dude. I mean, you saw how quick he tried to shut down the conversation in New York."

"Oh come on," Danny said, his cheeks flushing slightly red as he made eye contact with Val, "what are the odds he has a double life as some kind of ninja ghostbuster?"

"Well," Jake said, resting on the windowsill, "I'm not exactly a ninja, but yeah, I've busted a few ghosts in my time. FYI, you should really start locking your windows."

"Noted," Danny responded, folding his arms across his chest, "now, would you like to come in or do you have further breaking and entering to do?"

"No time. Look, I've got a lead on the guys after… Wulf…but I've got to get moving now. So, I'll just take that ring back and you guys can just stay here and have you a fun little Christmas party till Danny gets his powers back, okay? Okay."

"So," Sam said, looking Jake up and down, "…this is the kid who took you down, huh Danny? Not one of your best days."

"Yeah, I was expecting someone, I don't know… _taller_… I guess?"

"And someone a little less rude," Jazz said, noting his impatient body language as he looked out the window, "next time, you might want to start with 'hi' before dropping into a room of irritable ghost hunters."

Embarrassed at his own sudden lack of manners, Jake began rubbing the back of his neck, his head dipped low. "Yeah," he said, straightening up and leaning against the wall, "I guess that wasn't too classy on my part."

"We've all been there," Jazz began, offering him the plate of cookies, "but for future references, knocking on the door is the best way to get out attention, okay?"

"Yes ma'am," he said, pausing in confusion before biting into the side of a reindeer cookie. _Wait…the fuck just happened? _"Look, I'm not trying to get rowdy or anything, but I _really_ want to be done with this as soon as possible, aight? It's Christmas Eve, my friends are all waiting for me back home, and honestly, I can handle this a lot faster on my own."

"Hmm…" Danny murmured, looking over the ring one last time before tossing it back to Jake, "nah, I think I'll come with."

Rustling his head in frustration, Jake fought the urge to blow out a smokescreen and run away from the assembled group of trigger-happy cookie munchers. "Alright, 'Phantom,' I get that this is your city and everything, really I do," he said as he opened the window to leave, "but believe me when I say that these guys are _way_ out of your league. So…"

"So," Danny said as he stood up and followed Jake to the window, "you can explain why they're out of_ my _league but in _yours_ on the way there_."_

_"_You don't have any powers right now."

"Hey, I've been doing this since I was fourteen, it's not the first time I've been powerless for a few hours. Besides, I don't suppose you have any powers you'd like to talk about either, so just think of this as a bonding experience for us."

Looking around Danny's massive form, Jake raised his eyebrow and questioned the others in the room. "He's seriously not gonna let this go… is he?"

"Not unless you wanna start answering some serious questions."

"Ugh, fine." Jake lamented, shrugging his hood on, "just…get something to protect yourself with, I guess."

"Awesome…can I have the ring back?"

"No you absolutely can't."

"Hey now, no need to get… short… with me."

Pausing, Jake turned on Danny, glaring up with a puzzled look on his face. "Did you… did you just make a fucking **_pun_**?"

"Probably, it happens sometimes."

"Often," Sam corrected, "it will happen often and it will be terrifying each time."

"No," Jake said, "I'll take Tucker or the sensible red-head but I am not dealing with a giant who makes terrible puns while tracking down a pack of werew-" Catching himself too late, Jake cursed under his breath.

"Wait," Tucker said, pausing mid-chew, "what was that?"

"I… I mean… No, you know what, screw it, you're Danny freaking Phantom and if you want in so bad," he said, pulling out a clump of mangled, bloody fur from his coat pocket, "fine. Turns out, the reason your friend Wulf is being hunted is because there is an intercity werewolf rivalry going on and since neither side can figure out whose side he's on, they're both going after him. Understand?" Jake finished, turning to see out the window.

Silence overtook the room as they all stared at him, everyone wearing a different degree of disbelief. "Are you trying to tell us that…"

"Werewolves exist and they're in your city? Yes, and they are everywhere. I mean come on, Wulf is literally a giant werewolf who was probably offed in his wolf form."

"Actually," Valerie said, looking the strange boy from New York over in skepticism, "now that you mention it, that _does_ make a surprising amount of sense."

"Great, you're allll caught up now." Jake said, tapping his foot impatiently and glaring at Danny, "Are you happy now, Danny? **_Can I go do my job now, Danny_?"**

"Wait," Tucker called, rushing out of the room, "one last thing."

"Oh, _goddamit_!"

"Language, mister." Jazz chided him.

Rushing back into the room, Tucker handed Danny a large box wrapped in snowflake Christmas paper with a bright red bow topping it off. "I was gonna wait till tomorrow to give you this, but I figure since, y'know, werewolves and no powers and all that, well…Merry Christmas Danny Fenton!"

"Charlie Brown references, really dude?"

"Of course, you know I couldn't pass up the chance."

Enthusiastically tearing off the wrapping and opening the box, Danny removed a jump-suit that had been designed specifically for him. Unlike his old one, this one was mostly white with thick, black, diagonal lines going down the side of the arms, legs and torso. The gloves, belt, and boots were solid black, with a raised white patch on the back of the palms and two pouches on either side of his waist. His symbol was still in the center of the chest, though now it rested on a raised circular platform, and his collar had been outfitted with a collapsible black hood. "Dude…new suit?"

"New suit," Tucker nodded, flashing a cocky grin, "I'm actually really proud of myself with this one; I figure the only thing keeping you in that old jumpsuit is the genetic seal that happened after the first accident. But, as a ghost you have a form of molecular control that should be enough so that if you concentrate hard enough on this one while transforming, the nanotech polymers'll be able to absorb the free-floating molecules of your old suit the first time you go ghost, then poof, new costume."

"….what?"

"Just think really hard about wearing while you transform."

"Oh, well I can do that."

"Wait, wouldn't the colors invert as soon as he did that?" Sam asked, remembering the day Danny first got his powers all those years ago.

"Nah, I ran some tests with similar fabrics on Dani and I think we've got the color situation figured out. It's also tear and flame resistant and _should_ be able to stop bullets."

Looking up from his admiration of the costume, Danny raised his eyebrow at Tuck, "Now, when you say tests…"

"Shut up, Fenton."

"I'm more concerned about the he said it _should _stop bullets_,"_ Jazz said, looking around the room, "is no one else concerned by that? Anyway, where _is_ Dani anyway, she awol again?"

"Nope, she said she was feeling sick so she's sleeping this one out."

"I bet so." Valerie mumbled, laughing under her breath.

"Oh my god," Jake growled, banging his head against the wall, "you giant freaking nerds. Did you not hear the part about there being **_violent. angry. werewolves _**running loose in your city? Now, you can _please_ either put your fancy suit on and follow me or stay here and discuss fashion while I go handle business."

"Yeah yeah yeah," Danny waved, exiting the room, "keep your shirt on, I'll be right back out. In the meantime, try not to do anything that'd make them shoot you."

"I seriously recommend they not try that." Jake warned, his eyes focusing into reptilian slits.

"Are all nineteen year-olds in New York so angry?" Jazz asked, her inner psychiatrist taking over as she watched him anxiously stand against the wall.

"Yo, in all honesty, they probably would be if they had to deal with the things I do."

"Which are what, exactly?"

"This, for example."

"Hey, snark all you want but we are trying to help you, you know."

"I know you are, I really do, alright? I know Danny Phantom, the Fentons and the Red Huntress –which, I'm guessing is the chick who keeps glaring at me from the side of the room and biting the heads off of cookies- all watch over Amity Park, they have for years and they do a good job of it, I'm not denying that. But,_I_ have a job to do too, and right now that job is keeping werewolves from biting everyone's faces off, there, ya got me. Now, I know that there's some point in time where we'll all be super great friends, alright, just the _best-est_ of pals, and on that day, I'll apologize for being kind of a dick right now and I'll tell you everything you want to know, but for the moment, you could help by letting me go and promising not to do something stupid… like following me."

"…Well that settles it," Danny said as he reappeared, adjusting his gloves and flexing, "now I'm _definitely_ coming with you."

Tired of arguing, Jake sighed and climbed out the window with Danny following suit. "Fine, c'mon then, Casper the King-sized ghost, we're going to have a little talk with the leader of each group and I swear to god if you make a 'hairy situation' pun at any time during this I will superglue that ring to your face."

"Aww, you're no fun."


	6. The Diplomat

Rushing along the rooftops was harder than he remembered, and with each leap over a ledge or stumble across a vent, Danny began to reconsider his decision to follow Jake on foot. "How can someone with legs so short run so fast," he huffed, barely keeping Jake in his sight, " and do you even know where we're going!?"

"Sort of," Jake yelled back, his hood obscuring his face in the cold December air, "I'm following my nose for the most part."

"Great," Danny groaned, "so we're basically just running blind through the city while werewolves are doing a reenactment of west side story somewhere, that's comforting."

"Hey, you're the one who decided to be all buddy-cop and follow me across the roof."

"Wait…did we come this way just because you thought I'd give up on chasing you."

"Maybe," Jake said, scaling down the fire-escape of an abandoned building near Vlad Master's old Mansion, "but you can't blame me for trying."

"You little bastard," Danny hissed, "I can totally blame you for that."

"Yeah," Jake chuckled as he picked the lock, "that's true."

Pushing open the old door, the two of them carefully stepped inside, gagging as they were hit with the overwhelming stench of wet dog and rotten food. "Yep," Jake said, his nose pinched closed in the rank darkness of the place, snoring coming from every direction, "we're definitely in the right place."

"Alright," Danny whispered, disgusted and fascinated at the same time by the sleeping bodies hidden in the mess surrounding them, "so what now, Mr. Werewolf expert?"

Raising an eyebrow at Danny, Jake walked over and nudged the nearest sleeping body with his foot, "Yo," he said, kicking harder after they refused to wake up, "bone breath, where's the big dog at?" Lazily, the young lycan pointed to a door standing the end of the hallway, grumbling and half-awake as Jake stepped over him. "Thanks dude, 'night."

Momentarily stunned, Danny rushed to catch up with Jake, who was now shuffling uncomfortably around the mountains of garbage that was strewn. "That's it," he asked incredulously, "that's your big confrontation; you just lightly kick a guy and then freaking _ask_ where the leader is?"

"Oh I'm sorry, did I not appropriately work over the sixteen year old passed out in a pile of old pizza crusts?"

"…well yeah, I mean, maybe a little, they _are_ werewolves right?"

"Wow, way to be speciest, Danny, next you're gonna tell me to beat up leprechauns cause they're all tricksters and thieves."

"n…no?"

"Good answer," Jake said, knocking on the door to the back room of the building, "and for future references, you should probably avoid thinking that all magical creatures are down to fight, most of them just want to be left alone but a lot of times the pack leaders are-"

Jake's sentence was cut off by a fist going across his face, knocking him to the ground and waking several pack members up. "-assholes… like _this_ guy."

Standing in the open doorway was a tall, muscular Native American in a torn tank-top and acid-washed jeans. His hair was shaggy and unkempt, and tattoos ran from his neck down the sides of his arm. Fire danced in his green eyes as the muscles on his face twitched into a vicious snarl. "I don't know who you clowns think you are running up in my spot like this, but you got five seconds before me and my crew go Cujo on yo' punk asses, so I suggest you run."

"Wow," Danny said, watching as Jake stood up and wiped his mouth, "way to play into the violent alpha stereotype."

"Fo' seconds," he said, standing nearly eye to eye with Danny, "don't think just cause you big don't mean you won't get handled."

"Yo, calm it down for a second there, Runs-with-his-mouth," Jake said, stepping between the two of them, "I don't want trouble, you don't want me to _make_ trouble… but I know you're the ones who've been _starting_ trouble around here and I'mma need you to go ahead and stop so I can go ahead and bounce, deal?"

Pausing to look Jake over, the pack leader snarled and pushed him into Danny, waving them both off as his group began to circle up on them. "Ay, yo, who the fuck you think you talking to shorty? Do you know who I am? This is my city now, and I'll do what I want to, you he- you feel me?"

"Alright look," Jake began, forcing a civil smile onto his face, "it's Christmas, so I'll give you that last time to put your hands on me, but the next time it happens you're losing some fingers, ya dig? Now, I'm gonna say this one more time so I want you to listen good," grabbing the leader by the shirt, Jake pulled him down and stared him hard in the face, "you're. **_done_**."

"Man, get yo' wack ass out my face," he said, pushing off from Jake's grip, "and take yo' goofy-ass pajama wearing boyfriend with you."

"Hey," Danny protested, "'goofy-ass pajamas' or not, it sure beats the crap out of that Federline-chic thing you've got going on."

"Yo what'd you just say?"

"Umm, I think he just said that you look like the worst trends of the 90's all rolled into one super–douchey body, or… was that not clear?"

"Look here little man, I've been real cool up to this point but I've got about _this_ much patience left in me to spare, so either you and your boy roll on out of here or Amity's finest gone have to carry you out, y'know what I'm saying?" A collective gasp went out as he shoved Jake in the chest one last time, silently daring him to challenge him.

"So, uh, Jake…" Danny began, sensing the uncomfortable shift in atmosphere even without his powers. "I'm guessing that counts as him touching you?"

Sighing, Jake pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, "Why are the dumb ones always so big?" Moving almost faster than Danny could see, Jake grabbed the leader's arm and wrenched it to the side, keeping his fingers locked in place with a sickening crunch as the motion snapped all the bones in the tall man's right hand. Standing in stunned silence, the others began whimpering as they backed away from Danny and Jake, obviously smarter than their now handicapped pack leader.

"Argh," he yelled, cupping his broken hand with the working one, "you little bitch! I'mma kill you for that, y'hear me? I'mma kill-"

Shooting his hand out and grabbing the leaders face, Jake once again pulled him down to his level, this time forcing his eyes to turn into reptilian slits. "I _seriously_ doubt you wanna see me in a bad mood, so you're gonna listen, right?"

"Yo man, look I…I don't know who you are but I'm just looking out for my own here, y'know? You can't have this turf, aight, you can beat me, break me, tear me down…but I ain't givin up this spot, man, it's all we got."

"Wait… dude, how old are you?"

"Nin…nineteen."

"The rotten food, the shady living… let me guess, it's just you and these others here, right, all runaways or pack-deserters?"

"You should know, right, I mean you're the one who's been sending that big freak in the glowing pajamas to spy on us right?"

"Wulf," Danny cut in, "the guy _you've_ been chasing down for the past week."

"Yeah, well, you come after us we come after you, knowwhati'msayin, law of the land, big man."

"What's your name," Jake asked, releasing his face and letting him stand again, "and I mean your real name, not gang title."

"…it's…it's Melvin."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Nah…it was my dad's name. He died when I was about seven and then moms went about a year later, so it's just been me scratchin and survivin' since then."

"You've been in the streets since you were eight," Danny asked, now feeling really guilty about inadvertently getting the guy's hand broken, "how has nobody been out looking for you."

"Amity Park's not a big place," Melvin hissed, still cupping his shattered hand, "but it's massive when you're a scrawny little Indian kid eatin' out of the trash with the dogs. But 'ey, I made it didn't I? Got my own pack now and everything, least I had one until you two busted up in here and made me look like a straight up bitch."

"See, this is why you don't punch people right out the gate, you get your hand broken and then you get the angry eyes and then it's a just a whole big mess. I tell you-"

"What the _jolly white giant_ here is trying to say," Jake interrupted, "is that you'd get a whole lot more done if you didn't go around punching people every time they knock on your door."

"Aight, fine, that's on me… but whatever, just take what you want and go then, we gotta get up early tomorrow if we wanna get to the kitchens 'fore they all fill up."

"See now, you're still not listening," Jake said, rolling up his sleeve and pointing to the symbol at the center of Danny's chest, "do we look like we're in the business of misery?"

Looking from Jake's arm to Danny's chest, Melvin scratched his head for a bit before coming to a realization. "Yo," he said, his eyes growing wide with recognition, "yooooooooooooo!"

Watching as the crowd of young werewolves began murmuring and pointing at the two of them in either excitement or fear, Danny became confused when he realized most of the attention was focused on Jake. "Uhh, okay, me, sure they recognize," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at Jake, "I mean, the costume's different and so is my hair…and eyes, but still…why do they seem more interested in you?"

"Because I'm the pretty one obviously."

"Yo," Melvin said, calming down from his minor freak-out before pausing in front of them, his tough demeanor shattered in their presence, "look, Phantom, dude, I meant absolutely no disrespect to the costume earlier or to you, I mean like, no homo and all but you actually look pretty good in white."

"Now who's the pretty one?" Danny whispered, smirking at young dragon.

"Still me."

"Am Drag, bruh, I just got mad respect for you son, so if you guys want us to chill with all the roaming gang stuff then we got no problem, right y'all?" A unified crowd nod seemed to show their agreement.

"Hold up, what the heck is an 'Am Drag?'"

"Ignore him." Jake said, throwing up his hand as a sign for Danny to stop talking, "Melvin, I'm gonna make you a deal; since you're doing the best you can to look after these kids I'm not gonna force you guys apart like the law would."

"Really?"

"Really. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, as long as you guys don't make any more trouble with the other packs _or_ humans around here, you're certified as a mainstay in Amity."

"Wait, you can do that?"

"Again, ignore him," Jake continued, "as long as you haven't harmed any humans or dug up any local graves you should be fine. You can have the building, we'll send you pack rations by pixie mail, and anyone old enough to work will get a local job with from the Y.M.C.P.A. No more stealing, no more rotten food… a good honest living and all you have to do is keep your nose clean, deal?"

"….You ain't yankin me are you?"

"Hey, it's Christmas eve man, if these kids feel safe with you enough to follow your lead, then fine, you have my word as the American Dragon that you're good here. But this is Phantom's city too," Jake said, hooking his thumb to where Danny was standing, "so you guys get three strikes with him before I come back and bring the roof down on this place, aight?"

"Yeah, aight."

"Good," he said, pulling out a vial of glowing translucent liquid, "now, put this on your hand."

"Yo, I don't mess with no drugs, man. Sends a bad message to the kids."

"And yet you'll punch a stranger in the face in the drop of a hat," Danny muttered, bringing a small smile to Jake's face for the first time since New York as they turned to leave.

"Relax man, it's just unicorn drool, heals any broken bones in two hours or less."

A unanimous cry of "eww" from the younger kids didn't stop Melvin from coating his injured hand with a glob of the liquid, relieving the burning sensation almost immediately. "Thanks bruh, good lookin' out... and look, sorry about all that jazz earlier, these little dudes are all I got so sometimes I go overboard. So uh, we cool?"

"No worries," Jake waved, opening the door and letting in the crisp, late morning air, "and as long as you don't do anything stupid from now on out, we're frosty."

Later, as Danny and Jake began the long walk back to Fenton Works in silence, Danny continued staring at Jake until, after a few blocks, he finally snapped. "Okay, so maybe I exaggerated a little bit about the severity of the werewolf situation, but still, you need to-"

"That guy back there, Melvin…we…we went to elementary school together. His mom died in that massive pile up a few years ago caused by that drunk driver. They said after that he just ran away from every foster they tried to put him in until he just…disappeared one day. I…I didn't even think Amity Park had that many homeless kids, much less that I'd recognize one."

"I… Look, don't beat yourself up over that, Danny," Jake sighed, shoving his hands in his pocket and exhaling a puff of smoke, "werewolf kids have it tough from the beginning. The ones born into it have to prove their strength from the time the can walk, and if they're too weak, they end up as strays roaming the streets. The ones who get turned when they're young have all the added stress of being inexperienced and hormonal so they typically run away from their home cities to a place where no one will recognize them, like all the younger kids in there probably were."

"And this is your _job_?" Danny asked, still shaking his head as the two of them made their way down the street "Like, you're some kind of magical diplomat 24/7? I mean, I usually just beat mine up and then cram them in a Fenton thermos."

"Hey, don't think my flow's all diplomacy and speeches there, Fenton. Every now and then I still have to get down to the nitty gritty and bust a few heads over stupid ish. Besides, isn't this what Tuck's trying to do with his whole secret agent thing anyway?"

"He calls it S.P.E.C.T.R.E now," Danny said, remembered the fluidity with which Jake shattered Melvin's hand, "'the Supernatural/Paranormal Evacuation and Tactics Resistance Effort.' You know how nerds love their acronyms."

"Sounds… _interesting_. And is the hand thing still bothering you?" Jake asked, watching as Danny ran his fingers over his palm once again. "That was just to throw him off his game enough to get an actual conversation out of the guy."

"If that's the case why not just flash that tattoo of yours and let him know you were with the 'American Dragons' from the start. I mean, your crew is obviously pretty hard-core in the magical community if you're famous enough to freak out and entire room of prepubescent werewolves, right?"

"Man," Jake chuckled, shaking his head, "you really are clueless, aren't you?"

"I've been told that once or twice, but go on."

"'American Dragon' isn't the name of some kinda magical gang, genius, it's a title. In fact, it's the only reason I'm even in this city at this piss poor hour."

"…. So you're a dragon then," Danny asked, rolling his eyes as they finally reached the fire escape to Fenton Works, "cause _that_ makes sense."

"Yeah, like I'mma take smack from a six-four Ghostbuster who's technically half-dead."

"Say what you will about me, dude, but you've seen me in action. I've been at this since I was fourteen and my parents first built that stupid ghost portal."

"Wow, really? I mean, your life's halfway a cheesy cartoon opening waiting to happen; _Yo, Danny Fenton he was just fourteen when his parents built a very strange machine_…"

"_It was designed to view a world unseen_."

"Nice. So how'd you end up half ghost then…oh and don't drop the flow either, we might have something here if this superhero thing goes belly up for you."

"Well, _when it didn't quite work, my folks, they just quit, but then **I** took a look inside of it…there was a great big flash and everything just changed_…"

"_Did your molecules get all rearranged_?"

Nodding, Danny continued with his story, smiling as he explained his origin in rhyme. "_When I first woke up, I realized… that I had snow white hair, and glowing green eyes_…"

"Not to mention that _you could walk through walls, disappear and fly_…"

"Yeah…man, it was so weird… _I was much more unique than the other guys_."

"So then what?"

"Well, _it was then that I knew what I had to do, I had to stop all the ghosts that were coming through_."

"Now _he's here to fight for me and you_…" Turning at the new voice, Danny and Jake were met with a smug grin that told them that Valerie Gray had heard everything they'd been saying since arriving on the rooftop of Fenton Works. "But don't stop on my account," she said, leaning calmly against the roof entrance, "_please_… do go on."

"Valerie," Danny said, embarrassed that they'd been caught in a moment of bromance, "how much of that were you recording?"

"Hmm, I came in at about, '_Yo, Danny Fenton,' _so I'd say I have enough for a few laughs. You guys nail the guys who were tailing Wulf?_"_

_"_If by guys you mean the high school werewolf party then yeah, we handled that quite nicely… and Jake only got punched once."

"Good for him then," she said, walking over to stand between the two of them, "guess having us lowly normal around didn't throw off his groove too much."

"Hey, like I said," Jake explained, shrugging his shoulders while resting on the edge of the building, "I'm in a bit of a rush. In fact," he began, climbing onto the ledge with his back facing out, "why don't you two finish up this little jam session while I take off for New York?"

"Dude," Danny said, watching him carefully as he moved along the ledge, "I know you're in a rush and all, but are you seriously expecting to drive four straight hours to NYC after all of that?"

"Nah, I actually planned to fly."

"Isn't a plane a little out of the equation right now?" Valerie asked, raising her eyebrow at the strange young man from the big apple.

"A plane, yeah, it's a little late for that..." Jake responded, giving them a two finger salute as he began falling backwards off of the building, "so I'll take the express."

"Oh Christ fuck!" Danny yelled as he and Valerie rushed over to where Jake had jumped. Looking down, they saw nothing until a pillar of flames erupted inches from their faces and a large, red dragon hovered in front of them, his wing beats throwing off excess heat.

"Oh," he said, once more flashing Danny that wicked grin that he'd seen weeks ago, "and I guess this ties us up on the whole 'you show me yours' thing, huh, Fenton?"

Watching as the large reptile took off in the direction of New York, Valerie and Danny stood in stunned silence as fresh December snow fell on their faces. Eventually, once the shock of the situation had passed, Danny began grinning like an idiot and laughing as he led her inside.

"Care to explain what's so funny?" she asked, still visibly disturbed (and intrigued) by the unexplainable event she'd just witnessed.

"Dragons are weird, Val," he began, shaking his head, "one minute they're punching out ghosts in a back alley, and the next they're freestyling and jumping off the rooftops after being punched by guys named Melvin."

"…what?"

"Exactly," he said, the excitement of everything taking over, "this night was wild from start to finish for me."

"You're a weird little dude, Danny," Valerie said, his smile contagious in the moment, "you know that?"

"Yeah," he finished, descending the stairs and flopping down on the chair between Tucker and Sam to tell them about his night, "but at least I have a sweet-ass theme song now."


	7. Confrontation

Walking through the crowded halls of Riker's Island on New Year's Eve was not Valerie's ideal situation for bringing in the new year, but she knew that six years had been long enough to hold this much hate inside her. Guided through the halls by her appointed security for the day, she weighed her words carefully as she took a seat in the assigned room they'd reserved for her when then found out who she was here to see.

"Are you sure about this," her guard said, an army-brat with a private-first class ranking who'd agreed to stay with her as long as she needed, "cause from what I've heard about ol' boy from Jakie, dude ain't nothin' _but_ trouble."

Drumming her fingers on the table as she thought about it, Valerie looked up at the clock positioned behind her. _12:30, _she thought_, he'll be here any second. _"I'm sure," she said as the door handle began to turn, "'Jakie' isn't the only one who knows how to handle trouble."

"Aight then," her guard said, adjusting her T. Carter nametag with a sly smile, "I ain't mad at you."

Watching as the prison guards brought in the man they'd come to see, Valerie and Trixie were silent as Vlad Masters was seated in front of them.

"Ah, Miss Gray," he said, his eyes covered by his long hair while his head was dipped down, "so nice of you come visit an old man after all this time." Straitening up and throwing his weathered grey hair behind his head, Vlad smiled a tired smile that didn't touch his steely blue eyes, which were still as calculating and manipulative as the day they met, but were now stained with sadness. "Now," he continued, brushing of the sleeves to his faded black prison suit before knitting his fingers together on the table, "to what do I owe this pleasure."

"Save it, Mr. Masters," Val said, crossing her legs in authority, "that smooth rich older guy routine may have worked on an unsure little girl in junior high, but it sure as hell ain't gonna fly with an officer of the law."

"My, how much you've grown since we last saw each other," he said, recovering from his false shock to once again give her a serious smile, "tell me, what's it been… two, three years since we last met? I must say though, for all your growth you're still the fiery little girl I gave that equipment to all those years ago. So much passion in her eyes and yet still missing something."

"And you're still the same conniving lunatic who took advantage of a vulnerable girl's situation just to further his insane schemes of not being lonely, but that's not why I'm here, Mr. Masters."

"Oh why the formalities, my girl, just plain old Vlad will do," he said as he leaned back in the old chair the prison had provided for him, "after all it's not like I'm your boss or anything."

"Maybe not," she said, locking onto his eyes with hers, "but you _are _the man facing life without parole for that aggravated murder charge. A murder, which I'll remind you, was nationally televised."

His smile was now completely erased as his eyes hardened with guilty rage, staring at Valerie with the intensity of a thousand suns. "Your point, Miss Gray?"

Pausing for a beat, as she looked over the tattered remains of the once mighty Vlad Masters, Valerie sighed and leaned in to speak. "Look, we all know I'm not your biggest fan," she replied, still calm even though his collective demeanor had been shattered, "but I'm not going into the New Year still hung up on old ghosts. You used me, Vlad, you turned me against Danny and instead of helping me get over my issues like a sane person, you turned me into a weapon at the age of fourteen."

"Ahh, so that's what you want," he said, baring his teeth in a cruel smile, "an apology for making you into the big bad Huntress?"

"I don't want an apology, Plasmius," she said, spiting the last word with so much hatred that for a moment Vlad remembered the type of person he used to be when he had his powers and snarled accordingly, "not anymore. What I want is an explanation."

Slamming his hands onto the table and leaning in closer to Valerie, Vlad's face became of pillar of rage and violence. "If you know what's good for you_,"_ he said, moving quickly to grab her shirt in a moment of madness, "then you'll remember to _never _call me that again, understood?"

"What's the matter, _Vlad_," she said as she shoved him off of her, watching him carefully as he eased back into his chair with Trixie standing by her side with her sidearm drawn, "there was a time when that was your favorite thing to be called."

"Yes," he said, recomposing himself by touching the center of his forehead in a circular pattern, "and I believe it was about the same time you vowed to rip our friend Danny Phantom into pieces. Things change, Valerie. Sometimes…" he began as he moved the neckline of his jumpsuit to reveal the spectral limiter that the Fenton's had begrudgingly placed on him shortly after his arrival, "they even change for the better."

"So talk to me then," she said, signaling Trixie that it was okay to put her gun away, "not a journalist for some rag, not some late night hack using you for his fifteen minutes. If you really want me to believe that you've changed… then talk to the little girl from Amity Park who you gave a gun to and said 'hunt down all the monsters.'"

Sighing in exasperation, Vlad slumped in his chair, once again letting his hair fall over his face and obscure his eyes, a hard line drawn where his lips were. "All this time and all you want is an explanation, Miss Gray? You want to hear that some old fool's been running around for over twenty years looking to hurt someone as bad as he'd been hurt, hmm? Fine, then here it is; every day I'd wake up convinced that this was the day I'd be able to just let things go, to make amends with my past and just move on with life. But then, as soon as I got the idea in my head, that monster came along and washed over it with the lust for power, the overwhelming drive to consume everything that made me… _me_… and then send me on my way with a hungry darkness just nesting inside me, waiting for something new to be given, something more to be taken into the dark folds of what I'd become. Sometimes, I'd stay awake for days, staring into darkness and starving for the things I knew I could never have. Jack, Maddie, you, Daniel, your friends… all just collateral damage of a dying star, expanding and devouring everything in its path. Do you know what it's like, Valerie? To feel like you're doing the right thing even when you're destroying everything you could possibly want? To be a prisoner of your own desire while a devil continuously gnaws on your soul but to still be expected to just smile for the camera?"

Holding her hand out to him, Val smiled as she introduced herself. "Hi, my name is Valerie Gray and I tried to lead a one-woman genocide against ghosts when I was fourteen."

Genuinely smiling even as he ignored her hand, Vlad looked at her and nodded. "Hmm, I guess you do. But you were young. Even more-so, you were vain and manipulated, you had the potential to overcome that with the right kind of support. Me on the other hand, well…" Looking down at his handcuffed hands, a sad s began to trail across his face as a tear ran down his face.

Sitting in the silence of the moment, Valerie and Vlad each stared down at the table before he turned to leave. "I do hope that explanation suits you, Miss Gray," he said, standing with his back towards her as he knocked on the door to signal the guards, "now if you don't mind, I believe you have other business to attend to… and visiting hours are over."

As the door opened and two large guards grabbed each of his arms, Vlad turned one last time to Valerie, his eyes now listless and even more tired than when she'd arrived. "One last thing, Valerie…"

"Yes, Mr. Masters?"

"I don't regret what I did," he said, his voice stoical as he dipped his head once again and remembered the fallout from four years ago when he'd put his fist through a man's chest, "… but to this day, I'm still not sure if I was just stopping another monster before he could become like me… or consuming one for the sake of fueling a black hole."


	8. Hypnosis

Sitting in the luxurious chair that decorated the west wall of the psychologist's office, Samantha Manson found herself fidgeting with her silly-skull bracelet like she used to do when she was nervous. Waiting patiently for her target to show up, she found herself wandering around the office, picking through the various books and degrees that were on display, something that would have reassured anyone else but only made her more nervous about what was about to happen. "Easy, Manson," she breathed, blowing her uncharacteristically blonde hair out of her face, "it's just therapy, not like I'm going up against the mistress of misery again, haha." Unfortunately for her, that was exactly what was about to happen.

Thinking back to a few days ago when she first agreed to go undercover for Kwan and Jazz, Sam remembered how excited she was to be back into the ghost business after so many years of just being another faceless student on a big campus. "Are you sure it's her," she'd asked, half excited and half terrified, "are you sure Spectra's back in town?"

She remembered Jazz nodding in uncomfortable agreement, sipping coffee as she, Kwan, and Tucker all sat around the table where they'd been assembled. "Positive, nobody leaves the imprint on a room full of psychotherapists like the embodiment of teenage misery in designer heels."

"Yeah but I mean, we still have to be sure," Kwan said, obviously not happy with being reminded those miserable few weeks of his freshman year at Casper High, "I mean, you guys can't just go in there guns blazing on the assumption that all psych majors may be evil, right?"

"Hey!" Jazz cut in, playfully punching his arm.

"You know what I meant," he said, sheepishly taking off his glasses and wiping them off while turning red, "one of us should probably go get proof."

"But she's seen all of us before?"

"True, but Star still has killer make-up skills, I'm sure she could probably throw something together for one of us. The only problem is who wants to go in?"

And then Sam had volunteered, so eager to escape the acute soul-crushing monotony that her life had become since her last year at college. "Anything beats going over chemical compounds while slurping down wheat grass again, even a date with the headmistress from hell." Soon enough, she'd been in disguise, her once amethyst eyes now covered with bright gray contacts and her hair now a blonde curtain atop her head.

"Remember," Tucker told her as he adjusted her microphone before sending her in, "you feel like you're in trouble, just say the word and we'll come and get you."

"I'll be fine," she remembered saying, waving off his concerns as nothing, "after all, I'm a big girl, can tie my own shoes and everything."

Now, as she was brought back into the present, a woman stepped into the room, wearing a hot red power suit and fiery pumps. There were a few slight differences that Sam noticed- such as the fact that her cinnamon-toned hair was done into a bun and her sunglasses had been replaced with actual reading glasses that were now poised carefully on her nose- but there was no denying that it was, without a doubt...

"You must be Gracie Warner," she said, flashing her sharpest smile as Sam took her seat back on the chair, "hi! How are you, today? Well, obviously not too good considering you're here to see little old _moi, _ha ha am I right?"

"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice, Ms. Despero," Sam replied, giving her most genuine fake smile that she usually reserved for annoying students outside the library, "I'm sorry to just cut in like this."

"No, no, no," Spectra said, sauntering over to the chair adjacent to the couch Sam had settled on and patting her shoulder, "honey, I am _never_ too busy to see to a miserable child. Now," she continued, pulling out a notepad and relaxing into a not so subtle grin, "why don't you tell me all about your terrible little life?"

Momentarily thrown off guard by Spectra beginning to work her charms, Sam had to quickly snap out of it before she became to pawn in this game. "Well, I wouldn't say my life's _terrible_," she began, bouncing back into the agreed upon story, "I'm just having a little trouble feeling much of anything anymore that isn't violent rage or mind-numbing indifference."

"A common problem for people your age," Spectra/Despero said as she scribbled down notes in her pad, "but something tells me that there's something a little bit bigger weighing you down. You sure there's not, oh I don't know…a boy or a friend or a boy-friend on your mind?"

"Well…"

Leaning in to reassuredly pat her hands, Spectra gave a warm –if totally manipulative- smile and nodded. "Go ahead," she said, lowering her glasses and staring hypnotically into her eyes, "you can tell me _anything."_

"Okay, there is this one friend of mine," Sam began, unsure of whether or not it was her own desire to speak to someone or Spectra's velvety voice having grown more powerful and overriding the Fenton phones she was wearing, but never the less she continued, "we used to be super close, but over the last year we've been kind of drifting apart. I mean, we still talk and all, but ever since we broke up it's like we're running off of residual friendship fumes, y'know?"

"Ohh, honey…" Spectra said, inhaling deeply as she stroked Sam's face, "that's exactly what I needed to hear."

"Uhh... great," Sam said, uncomfortable to say the least, "can I have my personal space back, now?"

"Oh, but Ms. Manson," she grinned, undoing her hair and throwing her glasses aside, "we have sooo much more to cover."

Obviously delighted by Sam's sudden horror at being ousted, Spectra chuckled as she propped herself onto the desk and her prisoner struggled against the massive therapy couch in an attempt to get up. "Did you really believe a new hair-do and some make-up was enough to fool me? Please," she said, rolling her eyes and examining her nails nonchalantly, "I could smell that manic little Goth despair of yours from a mile away. A fresh break up, struggling in classes, the lingering traces of that rocky relationship with your folks…mmhhmmm, not even your ex-boo was a buffet of misery like you."

"Oh wow," Sam said, still struggling against the invisible restraints that held her in place, "were you this much of a bitch when I was fourteen?"

"Oh sweety I'm still the same old me," Spectra replied, the minimal wrinkles on her skin disappearing as she feasted on Sam's angst, "you're just a little bit less of one, but good for you!"

"Alright, Spectra, you got me," she said, now completely still as she rested in the deranged ghost's presence, "but if you really wanna get something out of me, you really got to dig a little deeper. I mean come on, what kind of despair inducing witch wastes their time scratching the surface of nearly a decade's worth of repressed emotions."

"Please, who do you think you're dealing with here, that idiot Skulker?"

"Nah, Skulker's boobs don't sag nearly as much."

"Why you insolent little cu-" Spectra began, her unbound fury causing the temperature in the room to plummet before she regained control, "no, no, no. Hahah you will not goad me with such simplistic tactics," she said as she adjusted her outfit, "besides, even skimming off the surface with you is enough to keep me in good shape for a few years."

"Really? You're really going with breakup drama over the lingering guilt of being a manipulative little witch for most of ninth grade? I mean, seriously lady, at fourteen I made my best friend go into in the untested experimental gateway into another dimension that made his life hell, you really think 'baby's first psychoanalysis' is gonna work on me?"

"Hmm," Spectra purred, walking confidently over to where Sam was and grabbing her face, "maybe not, but your session's not over yet and we have a lot of ground we could cover. Ohh, I know, how about we work through some of those mommy issues of yours?"

"Y'know, I feel like that's a conversation for me to take up with someone a bit more qualified, wouldn't you say so, Danny?"

Turning around in alarm, Spectra was annoyed when she discovered that no one was behind her. Rounding to Sam once again, she gave an angry smile and wagged her finger. "Nice try kid, now where were…." Pausing at the sight of the barrel of the Fenton Thermos resting in her face, Penelope Spectra cursed as Sam repaid her grin with a wickeder grin than even the spectral psychiatrist could give. "…oh you are kidding me with this."

"Sorry, Doc," she said, grinning through the restraints and slamming her thumb down on the capture button as Spectra was whisked into the spiraling ectoplasmic prison, "your services are no longer required for this session."

Pausing to catch her breath after the ordeal, Sam laid on the chair, no longer restricted but still too shaken up to move. After a while, she finally got the strength back to make the call to Tucker, Kwan and Jazz, all of whom were waiting in the Fenton RV for her to give some kind of signal (the signal was the word pineapple if she felt she was in trouble). "Well," she said, stretched out and exhausted from being emotionally drained, "it was definitely Spectra, emphasis on _was_."

"Alright," Tucker said, his voice guarded and unsure of what to say next, "but uh…you know we heard all of that, right? I mean, not that it's our business or anything, but, like… if you needed someone to talk to Sam, you know I'm always here for you, right? Jazz, Kwan, Danny…all of us are here if you need it, Goth indifference be damned."

"Tucker, believe me," she said, staring at the ceiling fan with a sad smile on her face in the moment of her victory, "I'm probably the sanest person in this ragtag group of misfits."


	9. Sunrise

"Uh, Danny," Jake said as he, Spud and Trixie slid into the booth across from Tucker, Sam, and Danny, "I know you guys kind of have slim pickings around here, but yo, are we really about to eat lunch at some that has "Nasty" in the name?"

"Relax, dude," Danny assured him, sliding three menus across the table, "when have I ever steered you wrong?"

"What about last week when you convinced me to go into the ghost zone and I ended up fighting some freak in black armor?"

"Okay…name two times."

"Mhmm…the day after Christmas when you showed up to my house and broke that totem that released dream pixies on the city."

Looking around the table as everyone raised their eyebrows at him, Danny waved them away and rolled his eyes at the accusations. "Oh sure, you shatter one little statue which _almost_ casts a city into an endless sleep and then suddenly you can't be trusted to pick a place to eat."

"That actually sounds pretty reasonable," Sam said, now more comfortable around Danny after her Spectra encounter and smirking at the thought of Danny and Jake bickering about whose fault it was that New York had been overrun with tiny, glowing fairies, "you do have two strikes, Danny."

"Actually, it's three," Tucker recalled, counting them off on his fingers, "there's the Fright Knight thing, the Pixie situation, which was hilarious for me by the way, and there was that time where Danny accidently made your clothes invisible during that fight with Ember."

"Oh yeah…" Jake said, remembering the New Year's party where Danny had grabbed his clothes and mistakenly turned them intangible in his attempt to stable himself, "so that's three then."

Making an offended face with his hand over his chest, Danny turned to Sam and Tucker. "Judases," he whispered, "and to think I was going to pay for your food."

"Oh, you're still paying, Fenton," Jake replied, laughing along with the others, "your city, your treat."

"How is _that _fair?"

"Same way a hundred-thousand pixies running loose in New York City is fair for a guy whose job it is to _not_ let things like that happen."

"Ohhh, kill 'em Jakie."

"Fine, I'll pay," Danny said, closing his menu and handing it to the waiter as the others continued to laugh, "but I figured with all the _silver_ you guys should have you wouldn't need to pick on lil ol' me to get your burger fix."

"Oh hush you big baby," Sam said as she sipped her tea, "you're the one who still loves this greasy meat shack after all these years."

Grabbing Tucker, Danny shot his head up in a royal fashion. "I think you mean_we're _the oneslove this greasy meat shack, thank you very much."

Still laughing as the waitress brought them all their orders, the six of them eventually wound down to have a normal conversation. Luckily, the Nasty Burger was relatively empty today -with the exception of a few elderly couples and some kids with their headphones in- so they were free to talk about pretty much whatever they wanted.

"So Danny," Jake said, poking his burger with a skeptical look on his face as the others dug in, "you've been doing the ghost thing now for about seven years now, right?"

"Mmhmm," he nodded, grinning like a giant kid as he bit into his burger, "since I was fourteen. Why?"

"Well, it's just weird is all. I mean, we've been running in pretty much the same circles for the almost the same amount of time and yet we've never _run _into each other until last Christmas."

"Hmm, that is pretty weird," Tucker cut in, "I mean, you'd think with all the times this city's almost been destroyed, there'd be a lot more interaction between you two, right?"

"The forces that be probably kept them apart because that much concentrated ego in one place would wreck the city." Sam answered as she started in on her salad.

"Pssh," Danny responded, doing a stereotypical anime pose and looking at Jake, "more like the universe couldn't handle all this sexiness in one place, am I right, Long?"

"Please," Jake said, mirroring Danny's ridiculous pose, "I mean, have you _seen_us, you don't even need to ask."

Watching as Danny and Jake continued to strike model poses at the table, the six of them indulged in a fit of laughter before continuing on comparing histories.

"Okay, so now that we've realized y'all're both complete idiots," Trixie cut in, stirring her fries into a puddle a ketchup, "why don't you guys get to the important stuff, like, uhh, how you boys do that freaky voodoo that you do?"

"Yeah," Spud said, "I'm kinda curious about this whole half-ghost thing myself, I mean like, are you dead and just possessing your own body or do you just like, re-die, every time you do that weird glowy thing."

"I…" pausing mid-sentence, Danny stared off as he thought about that, "uhhh, Tucker? Sam?" Danny looked over at Tucker who just kind of shrugged while he sipped his milkshake and gave him a look that said "Beats me."

Fidgeting with his hands in an attempt to make works, Danny sighed and resumed scarfing his down his fries. "I… I'm just… Danny, dude, Phantom and all."

"Besides," Tucker said, "I'm more interested in Scales McDragonbreath over here and what he's all about."

"Scales McDragonbreath?"

"Oh, oh, oh, let me answer this one," Spud enthusiastically volunteered, "I've made flashcards and everything. Okay, so like, Jake here's your basic anthrozil, born to one semi-magical momma and a regular-joe papa. His gramps was a major magical player in keeping NYC on lock but now it's Jake's job to keep the freakie-deakies in line, y'know, dragon-fu style."

"Uhh, wow…" Jake said, both impressed and a little weirded out by Spud's impromptu Long 101 course, "that actually pretty much covers it."

"Oh, boo," Sam called, piercing a tomato and then jabbing it at Jake and his crew, "I mean that covers origin stories yeah, but I mean come on, Danny goes ghost and from what I hear the incredible Mr. Long goes dragon up, but what all can you guys _do_?"

"Flight?" Tucker began, starting off with a given.

"Got it."

"Super-strength?"

"Of course," Danny said, "I max out almost half a ton in ghost form."

"Aww, only half?" Jake smirked, flexing his arms.

"Duplication?"

"Only in extreme situtions," he warned.

"Hah, suck it, Long! Fifteen copies with a snap…"

"Bite me, Fenton, dragon teeth and dragon claws with a thought."

"Oh yeah," Danny said, slamming his hands down on the table and leaning towards Jake, "I'll see your claws and fangs, and raise you intangibility **_and_**invisibility."

—-

"Uhh, should we stop this?" Trixie whispered, "Jakie's got a bit of a 'tude when it comes to danglin' 'em?"

"Danglin' 'em?" Sam asked almost afraid to hear the answer.

"She means contests about whose better," Tucker cut in, continuously mixing his shake, "and no, this is gonna be **_good._**"

—-

"Dragonbreath," Jake hissed, now getting in Danny's face and getting louder as the people around them began leaving, "I literally spit the sickest fires imaginable."

"Ghost rays, shorty, I can blast 'em or use 'em as a shield!"

"Impervious to magic and weapons, big-man, dragon scales harder than diamonds!"

"Ghostly wail!" Danny barked. "I have a voice that crumbles buildings! Top that you spikey haired Iguana!"

Grabbing Danny by the collar and staring his in the face, Jake defiantly whispered, "_my fuckin' tattoo summons magical shadows you pasty-faced portal jumper_…"

"WELL MINE….glows…in the dark…dammit." Scowling at Jake's victorious smirk, Danny slinked back into his seat and hung his head in defeat as Jake bowed and the others clapped. "You win this round, Jake, but I'm scrappy, I'll come back in the next one."

"Yeah well, unless you can beat ninja-hottie girlfriend I think my title's safe."

Looking at Sam with hopeful eyes as he dug out his wallet, Danny paused. "Does badass ultra-recylco vegetarian Goth ex trump ninja hottie current?"

"I wish," she replied, sipping her post-meal coffee, "but sadly, no."

"…Dammit!"

Joining in with the others as they laughed around the table, Danny watched as one of the few remaining waiters turned up the news. Listening carefully, he silenced the others' enjoyment for a second as a cryptic headline ran across the screen: _Fourth Anniversary of Gothtopia Approaching Soon._

"Four years…" he whispered, his, Sam's, and Tucker's attention now laser focused on the screen.

"Oh yeah," Jake said, watching the reporter comment on a massive pit that'd been burned into the ground, "you guys never really talk about that, you just always say it was a 'terrible, terrible day.'"

"Yeah, what's the deal, bros? What is 'Gothtopia'_?"_

As is flipping a switch, Trixie, Spud and Jake saw Sam and Tucker flicker their eyes to Danny as if waiting for his approval before saying anything else. "Gothtopia isn't an **_is_** anymore…" Sam began-

"It was a fucked up **_was_**." Tucker finished.

Sighing, Danny ordered another round of drinks for everyone at the table, this time ordering a beer for himself. Taking a deep swig that signified the end of the happy-go-lucky-time they were having before. "Alright," he said, coating the bottle in a thin layer of ice and drumming on the sides as his eyes flashed ghostly green, "strap yourselves in kiddies… you're in for a twisted trip down memory lane."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **_**Alright, so a few things I need to clear up about this one. _A)_ This takes place a few months after "The Diplomat" (Chapter 6) so it's in the Spring of the next chronological year (2012). _B__)_ I wanted to do a sort of fun chapter before explaining _Gothtopia (_you know, that four years ago that I wouldn't shut up about earlier) and it may take a while to get right because a lot happens in there _plus_ I have more exams coming up. _C) _Thanks to everyone still hanging in there with me, I write for fun but your commentary and the fact that you're interested help me get through the rough patches. _  
_**


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